Cocorific: Season 5
by Summers-Girl
Summary: The next season in the Cocorific world following on from Cocorific Season 4 in which after Band Candy Giles and Joyce started seeing each other. GilesJoyce. Not strictly nesacery to read CS3 and CS4 beforehand. continued in Cocorific:Season 6
1. Buffy vs Dracula

Okay you probably know the drill my now, hehe. This is a continuuation from CS3 and CS4 in which after Band Candy Giles and Joyce started dating and in season 4 moved in together and at the very end became engaged. Not strictly necessary to read CS3 and CS4 to read this but hey, couldn't hurt could it?

Also thanks to all the lovely people who reviewed CS4 all the way. :-D.

And so here is the start of season 5 with Buffy vs Dracula. Read. Enjoy. Review.

* * *

"Ha! Touchdown! Oh yeah! Go team me!" Joyce casually watched Buffy do a victory dance. They were all at the beach- a 'family' day-out. It was something they hadn't done since Buffy had been sixteen. That had been a trip to the beach as well. Course, then it had just been Buffy, Xander and Willow and Joyce just the watchful eye and the person with a car that would take them home. She'd been bored that time- briefly enjoying watching her daughter and friends have fun, but for the majority of the trip she had been bored alone. She wasn't bored now, or alone.

Snuggling up closer to Giles on their towel on the sand she enjoyed the warm feel of his arm around her as much as she enjoyed the warm feel of the sun beating down on the towel.

"This is just what I needed," Joyce commented literally feeling herself relax more and more with each minute she spent on the beach. There'd been a few problems at the gallery lately and it had been making her extremely stressed. Here she could just forget all that and enjoy herself.

"I still feel it would have been better to have gone by ourselves, here I feel like a loose…_thing_," He told her, glancing over to the fact the rest of the group were several yards away from them, "But Willow had insisted so convincingly,"

"We're not loose 'things'," Joyce laughed at him as she also looked over at the rest of the group laughing and talking together, "We're playing the watchful parents. There enough to check up on them, alone enough to have our fun," Giles smiled down at her when she used the words 'our own fun', "Besides I think it was Tara's idea for this family outing- Willow was just her cheery spokesperson,"

"I'm inclined to agree," He smiled at her as she laid down flat on the towel, clearly intending to take in as much sun as possible, "Now let's talk more about this 'fun' you mentioned…"

At his suggestive tone she pushed her sunglasses off her face to look up at him.

"Less talking, more fun," She told him monosyllabically with a smile and he leaned down to kiss her, but just before there lips met the two of them jumped in shock as the sound of something bursting into flame attacked their ears. They looked over at the group and saw a flaming barbecue.

"Everything's okay!" Anya assured them before grumbling sarcastically, "Willow just nearly incinerated Xander. But that's all."

"Willow, did you do that?" Giles asked, a touch of concern in his voice.

"It's no big," Willow assured him, "You just have to balance the elements so when you affect one, you don't wind up causing-"

A loud clap of thunder caused all of them and other beach-goers to look up to the sky and see the dark ominous clouds suddenly forming. They all really saw the downpour rushing towards them before they felt it hitting their skin violently and icy cold.

"Argh!"

"Oh my god!"

"Cold!"

"And wet! So very, very wet!"

They all jumped up frantically and started gathering their stuff together, wanting to get out of the rain as soon as possible. Already their hair was soaked and limp and sticking to their heads coldly.

"I didn't do it! I didn't do it!" Willow insisted urgently as their sand under their feet stated turning to mud.

"Then make it stop!" Anya ordered her, running ahead to the large beach canteen everyone else seemed to be running to. The rest of the group eagerly followed her.

* * *

Once inside everyone dropped their soaked towels and items onto a table Anya had saved herself and so inadvertently everyone else. Around them other people were squeezing water out of clothes and hair.

"I may be wrong," Riley commented as he looked out the window to the thunderous downpour outside, "But I think that pretty much vetoes our beach trip"

"And I never got my burger," Buffy grumbled.

"Urgh," Joyce complained looking over to tangled, wet, mess of hair, "It's all tangled and…well, urgh"

"Yes, damn that urgh hair," Willow smirked as she finished detangling her own straight hair.

"I don't know…I like it…" Giles said running his finger softly over Joyce's hair and she turned to look at him a smile.

"You're just humouring me,"

"I am not," He insisted.

"Alright," She accepted, "Then you're humouring yourself" she smiled again as walked up to him and placed her hands on his chest. His top was soaked from the rain and clung to him and Joyce subconsciously traced the contours of his chest before looking closely up at him. A moment later they were kissing.

Rain or no, this was still a perfect day and nothing natural or super was going to ruin that. Not even Dracula himself.

* * *

"Big or small?" Giles asked.

"It's a simple question," Joyce said and then frowned in thought, "Or is it? It may be more complicated than I thought initially,"

"Why do we have to make _this_ decision now?"

"Because how big or small it's going to be will determine the size of the guest list," Joyce explained with a sigh as she looked down at the lack of her notes in front of her on the dining room table.

"So why don't we focus on something beside the guest list?" Giles suggested. This wedding thing was turning out more complicated than he'd ever imagine and they were only a couple of months into the engagement.

"I don't know," Joyce sighed and he could tiredness and stress in her eyes, "I have all these conflicting thoughts in my head. Whether one thing would be better or another and I…" she sighed again, "I just wish these sorts of things were simpler" She admitted and he smiled in understanding. She looked at him, "I just want it to be special you know?"

"And it will be," He assured her with a brief kiss, "No matter what decisions are made,"

"I love it when you simplify things," She smiled at him and he leaned toward her again.

"I can make things simpler," He told her as they kissed again. They were forced to break apart as Joyce's cell phone rang. She sighed as she reluctantly pressed the answer button and put it to her ear.

"Hi," She put on a fake happy voice, "Mr Lohan, hi. Yes, about those pieces…" And she wandered off into the kitchen to carry on the conversation just as Buffy came bounding down the stairs. She walked in and saw the frown on Giles' face.

"Problemo?" She asked casually and shook his head as though to say 'it's nothing' but gave her an answer as well.

"Weddings are complicated," He stated and Buffy nodded in understanding as she headed over.

"Ah, you've been introduced into the bridal world of women," She laughed at him as she noted the pen and paper beside him, "Mom already got you in planning mode?"

"Yes," He admitted before looking at Buffy, "Why does every inch have to planned carefully?"

Buffy sighed as she realized how utterly clueless Giles really was.

"Oh come on, Giles, it's the Cinderella complex," She explained, "Every girl goes through it. Wanting every last bit to be perfect," She patted Giles on the shoulder faux-supportively "Good luck with that" and she walked out the room.

"Where are you going?" He asked with interest and she shrugged.

"Just patrol. You know, duty calls,"

"I could help," He offered not only because it was a temporary way to escape wedding planning but also because he hadn't helped Buffy patrol since she had been in High School and he kinda missed it.

"Nah, it's okay," She assured him as though doing him a favor, "Got Xander and Will coming along, bye Mom!" She called out as she opened the door but all she heard in reply was her Mom still talking in frustration on the phone. She gave a little wave to Giles before leaving, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Later on and Joyce was still answering phone calls from Mr Lohan or calls regarding him. Giles could complain about this or look at the upside that it was a momentary break from wedding plans.

He chose to complain.

Not only was it was a pain for both himself and Joyce when there were problems such as these at her work as it pretty much dominated her life for the duration, but at the present it was a constant reminder that he had no job of his own. He had been a watcher. He had been the high school librarian. And now he was neither. Buffy clearly didn't need him for slaying duties anymore and he had no gainful employment at all.

He was pulled out of his self-pitying reverie by the house phone ringing and he instantly got up to answer it. It was Xander asking him to come over to his house, which Giles dimly realized used to be his own, for an urgent slayer update. After assuring Xander he would over as soon as possible, he hung up and headed into the kitchen where Joyce was still on the phone.

"I'm-" He tried to tell her, but she was too involved in her phone conversation. He sighed in exasperation as he wrote the note down and pushed it in front of her. She glanced over at it, read it briefly and gave him a little silent wave of acknowledgement before returning her full focus to the person on the other end of the phone.

* * *

A quarter of an hour later and Joyce hung up as the phone call from the land of phone nightmares finally ended. As she sat in a seat at the kitchen island she dropped her head in her hands from exhaustion when she heard a knock at the door. She looked up in the direction of the door as though waiting for the knock again would tell her who was on the other side. Getting up she walked through the dining room to the hall and opened the front door expecting to see Xander, Willow or one of the others. Instead she saw a man she'd never met before. He wasn't really her type and yet she was pretty much blown away as she looked into his eyes. She shook her head to clear it as she looked at the tall, dark stranger again.

"H-Hi, can I help you?"

"Yes," the stranger admitted and Joyce could hear an accent in his voice, "I am new here and I am finding myself lost,"

"Oh, well, t-that's too bad," Joyce stuttered again, "Getting lost, I mean. It's better to know where you're going don't you think? That way you can find the place you're looking for. Because, you know, you don't want to not ever find…that…place…" She silenced her own babbling as she trailed off.

"I am looking for Lawn Avenue," Dracula lied to the Slayer's Mother, knowing he was already falling under his charm. It was almost too simple.

"Well, erm, I-I'm not quite sure where that is," Joyce admitted, ruffling the back of her hair with her hands trying to distract herself from how flustered she was feeling around him, "But if you come in I could get an…erm…. erm…" She was even forgetting her goddamn words, "A-Z! I could…get an A-Z?" She stepped aside to let him in and suddenly noticed that subconsciously she was hiding her left hand behind her back, covering the ring from his sight. What was wrong with her?

"Thank you, that is _very_ kind," Dracula told her with a smile as he stepped inside the home, his invitation given.

* * *

"You invited him _in_?" Giles asked Joyce following her into the next room while Tara and Willow performed the anti-invite on their house.

"Well he seemed so nice and normal…" Joyce argued, before shrugging her shoulders, "A little pale…"

"A good rule Sunnydale rule of thumb?" Willow offered and Joyce turned around to look at her, "Avoid white skinned men wearing capes,"

"That's beside the point," Giles said as he looked at Joyce, "I don't truly care from normal, rather I care about the fact you actually invited him in at all"

"I didn't mean to!" Joyce cringed under his gaze as she blushed in embarrassment, "It was just he…well, he…it was…" What was it exactly? Now that Dracula was no longer here she wasn't quite sure why'd been so taken in by him in the first place, "he was all…"

"Mesmerizing," Willow said at the same time as Joyce.

"Exactly," Joyce agreed before looking at Giles, trying to appeal to him, "So really it wasn't my fault at all. Totally not my choice. At all," He still didn't say anything, "Really," She gave him a quick kiss on the lips, "You are the only man I'm interested in…. dead or alive," She added as an afterthought, "Dracula Schmacula"

* * *

"She 'Schmacula' the concerns away too?" Riley asked as he and Giles searched all the placed they believed Dracula could be residing. Giles nodded and Riley shook his head in disbelief, "Pfft, as if _that_ would make it all better"

Since the two had started the search for Dracula's residence they had done nothing but rant and complain about Buffy and Joyce both giving in so easily to the vampire.

"You know they're still thinking about him, don't you?" Giles asked him.

"Oh yeah," Riley nodded, "Thinking back to those 'penetrating eyes'." Riley sighed in frustration, "I just can't believe Buffy just gave into him so easily like that- I mean she let him bite her!"

"It's not very encouraging is it?" Giles asked thinking back to the fact that Joyce had so readily invited Dracula in.

"Not real-" Riley paused as a sight caught his attention, "Huh."

"What?" Giles asked, looking in the same direction as Riley.

"I've lived in Sunnydale a couple of years now. Know what I've never noticed before?"

"A castle?" Giles supplied and Riley nodded as the two of them started walking up towards it.

"A big, honking castle"

* * *

The problem concerning Mr Lohan was finally resolved and now as Joyce drove home she realized she was finally free…. to worry about other things. There was the Gurian show the following week and of course the big thing to get in a tangle about- The Wedding. Giles was contributing as much as any guy could without exploding and Buffy was attempting to help- but it couldn't be helped if her slaying duties interrupted. What Joyce needed was another Buffy. A second daughter who wasn't the slayer to do all the wedding plan things with her. Maybe she could get Willow to split Buffy in two….

Speaking of, as she was driving along the road she saw Buffy walking along the sidewalk with Xander. Joyce was sure she'd been told that Buffy was being kept at Xander's to prevent any more Dracula meetings. But yet here they both were walking along with purpose. At closer inspection Joyce saw they both had a slightly glazed look to their eyes and she instantly knew there was more to this.

As she waited at the red light she picked up her cell and dialled Giles' own cell phone number. He didn't answer. It kept ringing until it switched to voicemail. She sighed in frustration as she threw her phone back down on the passenger seat. What was she supposed to do now? She couldn't call Buffy and she didn't have the others numbers. She made a mental note to resolve that at the same time she made up her mind and do the crazy thing of following her daughter and Xander in her car whilst continuing to call Giles and silently hope he would pick up soon.

* * *

Of all the things she had expected after following Buffy and Xander, a castle wasn't even on the bottom of the list. It loomed over her as she stood there, standing out clearly above the rest of the small town. So why on earth had she never seen it before? Giles still wasn't answering his phone, which meant one of two things. Either he'd lost it or he was inside the castle. Considering their lives she was going to go with option two and after seeing her daughter walk in there with Xander as well, Joyce believed she had no choice but to reluctantly walk through the castle doors as well.

As she opened the door it creaked so loudly and eerily that she feared the cliché would immediately give away her presence. Then, considering that the entire group was most likely wandering these castle walls made her realize it wasn't important whether or not Dracula knew she was here. It also made her realize that if it weren't for the danger how comical the situation would be as with the numerous corridors and secret passageways the entire group could pass each other several times without even realizing.

Looking around carefully as she walked down the ancient, stone halls she realized she had no idea where to go to find Buffy or even what she was going to do when she did. She saw a door to her right and on gut instinct pulled it open and realized a second before she put a foot forward that there was no where for her foot to go- there was no floor. The door opened onto a pit several feet deep and as she automatically looked down she saw there were people in there. There were theree women who from the ghastly pale faces Joyce immediately identified to be vampires. It took her a moment to fully realize who was in the pit with them though.

"Rupert!" She exclaimed in horror, "Oh my god!" She automatically looked away from the vampires groping him, "And you had issues with me inviting Dracula in the house!" She looked back at him for a second before having to look away again. As she was looking in the opposite direction and busy trying to block out the sounds of the vampires she saw Riley walking over. "Riley!"

"Joyce, what are you doing here?" He asked, rushing over, "What's the matter? Whoa!" He exclaimed, nearly falling into the pit himself. "Giles!" He immediately got out the cross was he carrying and held it out the vamp chicks and they hissed in detest and slinked away into the shadows leaving behind a very dazed looking Giles whose shirt was ripped where the three women had clawed at him seductively. Riley tossed the cross to Giles to keep away the vampires and Giles caught it as he stumbled up and shuffled over to Riley's outstretched hand.

"Joyce, Riley…thank god you're here," He told them breathlessly as Riley started to help pulling him up out of the pit. "There was no possible escape"

"Stop looking at them!" Joyce told him in displeased tone, seeing he kept glancing back at the three sisters who were keeping to the shadows and away from the light and Riley's cross.

"Sorry, it's just…" He looked down at his shoeless foot, "I've forgot my shoe…I'd better go…"

"Just get away from there! Go on! Go! Just go" Joyce started hitting him with girly punches and slaps on his back to back him move away from the door and the pit. "Get-" She carried on hitting him girlily in annoyance until he was on the other side of the hall and had seemed to have finally composed himself. "Arrr," She grumbled, pushing her hair out of her face, "And you were the one who was all upset over Dracula" She pointed out his hypocrisy.

"I was just about to stake them actually," He insisted pulling his ripped shirt together, "when you and Riley interrupted"

Riley and Joyce just exchanged a knowing look before walking on silently to find Buffy.

"What? I was," Giles insisted, following them.

* * *

"I still can't believe you," Joyce said to Giles a few moments later when the two of them and Riley had lost themselves further into the castle.

"I assure you, I was just about to kill them," He insisted and she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, looked like," She sarcastically agreed as she followed Riley into the next room and saw Buffy sauntering down a spiral, stone staircase.

"Buffy! You okay?" Riley exclaimed, rushing over to her.

"Yeah, chock full of free will" She assured him.

"And Dracula?" Giles asked and Buffy briefly looked back at the pile of ash behind her.

"Euro trashed,"

"Oh thank god," Joyce put a hand to her heart with relief, "Wait, where's Xander?"

As if on cue Xander rushed in through the door behind them carrying a torch possessively.

"Where is he?" He demanded, looking around, "Where's the creep who turned me into the spider-eating man bitch?"

"What? Turned you into…" Joyce trailed off as she looked around at everyone in confusion, "How much did I _miss_?"

"Just be thankful you found Giles in time," Riley smirked.

"What? Why?" Buffy asked, looking between her Mom, Giles and Riley, "Wait, Giles, why's your shirt all like ripped?"

"It's nothing," Joyce assured her as she clipped Giles round the head good-naturedly as the two of them walked out of the room. When she saw how embarrassed he really looked she linked her arm through his, which seemed to cheer him up a little.

Xander watched the two go for a minute wondering what the hell Riley and Joyce had been talking about, before he returned to the task at hand as he looked at Buffy and Riley.

"You know what? I'm sick of this crap! I'm sick of being the guy who eats insects and gets the funny syphilis. As of this moment it's over. I'm fed up of being everyone's butt-monkey!"

"Check," Buffy smirked then tried to remain serious, "No more butt-monkey"

* * *

"I still can't believe how you were with the Three Sisters," Joyce commented the following morning as she lay in bed besides Giles, talking quietly with him, neither of them quite wanting to get up yet.

"I was dazed," Giles said in defence, "You try falling down into a pit and staying focused"

"Yes, because that's what it was all about: the fall." She said sarcastically, "You seemed very reluctant to leave. Looking back at them…Riley had to practically haul you out"

"I…I was…. lulling them into a false sense of security," He insisted and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure they were just as fooled as I was," She told him with a smile.

There was a knock at their bedroom door and both of them instantly sat up in confusion.

"Hey, sorry about the knocking," They heard Buffy's voice through the door, "This time is more awkward for me than it is for you, believe me, but I kinda need to talk to Giles and…well in case you haven't noticed it's like almost twelve. I mean, I know its Saturday but _please_." They then heard her walking off down the stairs, presumably to wait for Giles. They looked at each other with expressions that clearly said 'wonder what that was about' and the two of them started to climb out of bed.

* * *

Giles was already downstairs talking to Buffy about whatever it was she felt they needed to talk about, when Joyce finally walked out of her bedroom into the hall and bumped straight into someone.

"Dawn, watch where you're going," Joyce reprimanded her youngest daughter. She was always rushing from one place to another not bothering to consider the other people walking in the opposite direction.

"Sorry Mom," Dawn rushedly apologized, before running to head downstairs but with one hand Joyce stopped her.

"What's the rush?" She laughed.

"Got up late. Wanna make sure Buffy hasn't got the last of the milk," Joyce didn't both reminding Dawn that it was usually the other way round- that is, Buffy was the one always left without milk for her cereal (a years old pet peeve for her oldest daughter)- as Dawn ran off down the stairs creating quite a racket.


	2. Real Me

Thanks to Zigpal, Rabidreject and g120 for reviews. Glad you like it so far, including how Dawn was introduced.

* * *

Basically this episode is just showing the new family dynamic with Dawn involved…which is basically what the episode was originally I guess…

A/N: First person italics are Dawn's thoughts/diary entries just like in the original episode.

* * *

"So this new regime with Buffy involves…more slaying?" Joyce asked Giles as she made herself coffee in the kitchen. 

"Actually it focuses more extensively on her training," Giles admitted with a nod, "But yes 'more slaying' will come into it"

"And Dawn?"

"Dawn?" Giles asked in confusion, looking over at Joyce from the other side of the kitchen, near the fridge.

"I don't want her involved in this…. extra-curricular" Joyce chose her words carefully.

"Well, I'll admit, I didn't intend her to either…" Giles told slowly, slightly confused as to what point she was trying to make.

"Doesn't mean she won't want in," Joyce pointed out, "She joined you and Buffy training yesterday,"

"That was only meditation, Dawn was perfectly safe watching,"

"I know, that's the point," Joyce sighed, putting her cup down on the counter as she looked at him, "She watches the training, she has always been eager to join in with research…and that's been fine…to a _point_," she admitted reluctantly, "But I know with this new slayer thing she'll want to join you both on patrol as well and that's…not safe- I want her away from that"

"As do I," Giles assured her, looking at her with concern, "What's suddenly brought this on?"

"I…" Joyce shrugged, "I don't know. I just suddenly feel very worried for Dawn…more than I ever remember being before. You know she's always been intrigued by the Watcher thing…eager to find out more and more…and I'm…concerned I guess that this new _regime_ would cause her to find out…too much"

"I know," Giles said in understanding, giving her a little comforting hug, before pulling back to look at her, " 'Watcher _thing_'?"

"You know what I mean," She smiled and then faltered when she realized he was just looking at her. She self consciously checked herself, "What's the matter?"

"Your outfit…"

"What about it? Is something wrong with it?" She looked it up and down checking for any stains she perhaps hadn't noticed or a tag sticking out.

"No it's great…really great…" He told her, still staring.

"How great?" She asked with a coy grin.

"Great enough for me to wonder if it's possible to talk you out of it…" He mumbled in reply as he kissed her.

* * *

Dawn bounded down the stairs a smile on her face because she'd gotten to the bathroom before Buffy. Buffy had beaten her the last four times, but for today Dawn had had the upper hand. She couldn't wait for her sister to move back into her college dorm though. Like really couldn't wait. 

_In the kitchen, I walked in on Mom and Giles kissing again. It's like they think while they're making with the smoochies no one will walk in the room. They're always smooching- more so since this whole engagement thing. I think they're almost as bad as Buffy and Riley, except I like Giles and I don't really like Riley. Riley always treats me like a kid, but Giles…well he still treats me like a kid but it's not all patronizing. Kinda like Dad used to be with me I guess. Which is nice. At least I don't get all wiggy like Buffy does when they kiss. And I'm meant to be the immature one. Please, if Buffy got more self-involved she'd well…be really self-involved._

_Like this wedding thing. Buffy is totally not getting involved except for when like Mom forces her to (which is quite often) but I'm into it. Although I kinda have an ulterior motive. Like if I help enough…I'll get to pick out my own bridesmaid dress. With no limitations. But no way is Mom gonna let me have strapless. She'd freak. She wouldn't let Buffy have a strapless when she was seven. Course the skirt didn't come past her butt but still…guess Mom's generation just isn't cool with mini skirts and well…things without straps. Although like a year ago I was in Mom's room and I came across a mini-skirt. Black denim. I thought it was pretty cool and assumed it was Buffy's. So I went to ask her if I could borrow it…you know in exchange for finding it for her. Buffy totally wigged though. She wouldn't tell me why. No one tells me anything around here._

_It's like Giles- he won't even let me reader the Watcher chronicles even though it would totally be helpful._

_Adults._

_Okay when they've been kissing (and more I think…I'm not sure though…not sure I want to be…but I can definitely say some of their hands are not in the line of vision…whatever) that long even _I_ have issues with it. Especially when they're in front of the cereal cupboard. Come on- a girl's gotta have breakfast hasn't she?_

"Mom?" Dawn pointed limply at the cereal cabinet as Joyce and Giles pulled apart.

"Huh? Oh sorry honey," Joyce apologized stepping aside to let Dawn past just as Buffy came into the room. As she went to get her breakfast she spared a moment to throw Dawn an evil look for getting to the bathroom first.

Dawn worked carefully around her sister as she got her breakfast together and her Mom and Giles being too lost throwing sly glances each other's way didn't notice Dawn taking Buffy's bowl, cereal, milk…

"I might be home a bit late tonight," Joyce told Giles, "We've got a lot of work to do to prepare for the Gurion show…you remember?" Giles nodded.

"Yes, well, erm Buffy and I are just going to the Magic Box today…for you know Slayer supplies," Joyce didn't say anything in reply but just gave him a pointed look and he sighed in acknowledgement, "And yes, I will be taking Dawn shopping for school supplies also," He got a sweet and casual peck on the cheek as thanks.

"What? What? What?" Buffy asked, only hearing of this plan for the first time, "Back to school supplies for Dawn? But that means Dawn has to come to the Magic Box as well"

"Ooh yay! Magic shop!" Dawn cheered but her grin soon faded when both her Mom and Giles looked at her with disapproval.

"You're going along Dawn, you are _not_ buying anything from there," Joyce told her, "The only buying will be at the mall-" Dawn smiled, "for back-to-school supplies only" Dawn's grin faded at her Mother's words as there was a knock at the door and Joyce went to answer it, with Buffy following as she continued to complain about Dawn tagging along.

Dawn looked pleadingly to Giles, wishing to have at least one small item from the magic shop. Giles held his hands up, palms facing her in mock surrender.

"I-I…don't look at me," He told her, "You heard your Mother, Dawn." And he headed through the dining room to the hall also. Dawn stomped after him in a sulk.

"But back-to-school supplies are _boring_! They're all about…well, school…no imagination on the item choice front"

_Usually I can wear Giles down. If I act all upset and such. He gets this sympathy face where you know he really doesn't want to but feels he can't say no. Course when Mom ever finds out I've used what she calls 'emotional blackmail' she completely freaks. Like I'm mistreating Giles or something. Please. He totally loves buying me things and like I'm gonna complain._

_I remember back when Mom and Giles started dating she told me I could stop calling him 'Mr. Giles' anymore and call him Rupert. But please, that name's just way too British to say seriously. Plus I prefer what Buffy and her friends call him. You know, just Giles. Seems cooler I guess._

* * *

"At the store? He was dead?" Joyce asked with concern as she continued to get ready. Giles was sat on the bed as he explained what had happened at the magic store while Buffy paced, clearly anxious to patrol and find what had committed the murder. 

"An all-you-can-eat for a brand new Sunnydale fang club," Buffy explained with disgust.

"Is Dawn okay? She didn't see-" Joyce asked in worry.

"Don't worry, we got her out of the store immediately," Giles assured her, "and I made sure to take her home straight after the, ah, discovery,"

"Oh good-" Joyce nodded in relief and then paused as she looked over at Giles, "Wait, you didn't take her for school supplies?" She asked in exasperation.

"I love the way you prioritise Mom," Buffy said sarcastically.

"Buffy," Joyce's voice revealed she was trying to be patient with her oldest daughter, "Dawn starts school again in a couple of weeks…"

"I know, but a guy was killed _today,_" Buffy countered, "It kind of made back to school supplies a moot point"

"One of us can take Dawn tomorrow," Giles offered referring to him and Joyce, "But we kind of have an issue about Dawn today"

"What do you mean?" Joyce asked, concern written across her face.

"Well you're at the pre-show reception, Buffy's patrolling, and I'm at the store researching…"

"Which leaves Dawn on her own," Joyce finished in realization, "Well who's gonna look after her?"

"I don't need anyone to look after me!" Dawn argued across from her own room.

"Yes you do!" All three adults called back in synchronized reply.

_They're always shoving me off on babysitters. I'm fourteen. I'm not a kid- it's not like I need a babysitter._

"_I'm old enough to_ be_ a babysitter!" I shout in protest but it's not like any of them will ever listen. Giles is researching at the magic store so maybe I'll get to tag along. So I'm not allowed to buy stuff, but if there's no owner then you can't technically 'buy' can you? It wouldn't be anything major. Just a spell book or two. It's not like I'm gonna get a vampire-magnet or something. I wonder if that exists? I don't think so. I mean who would want something that attracts vampires? Maybe a lonely vampire. _

_So yeah, anyway, babysitting wise it's always Mom and Buffy who are busy so I'm either left with Giles or Xander. Personally, if I _have_ to have a babysitter, when I don't even_ need_ one, Xander's definitely my choice. He's the only one who treats me as I am…as a woman, even if he does say I'm like a kid sister to him._

"I don't want her at the magic shop anyway, Rupert," Joyce pointed out when he offered to take Dawn with him, "But especially not when it's a _murder_ scene,"

"Well who are we gonna get at such short notice?" Buffy asked in exasperation and then her look of realization matched her Mother's and Giles. "Xander?" She offered.

"Xander," They repeated with relief in stereo. There was the sound of running footsteps and then Dawn appeared in the doorway.

"Okay," She smiled.

* * *

He hadn't really been doing research at the shop. Okay, so he had been researching. It just hadn't been about the vampires who'd attacked or the death of Mr Bogarty. The Magic Box was just too good an opportunity to resist. The profit to be made from owning a place such as that was enough alone to convince Giles to buy. But the truth of the matter was he'd been at a loss for a while- he no longer had had a calling or a career and the magic shop was just what he had been looking for. 

The smile on his face immediately faded however when he walked into his house. He knew something was wrong- everything felt odd and the struggle and complaints he heard from the kitchen only confirmed that.

He ran in to find Riley on the phone to what he assumed was the emergency services as Xander was tending to an injured Anya on the floor.

"What happened?" Giles asked, looking around at the scene before him.

"Harmony attacked." Xander explained, "Or her 'minions'…"

"Harmony _Kendall?_ Hold on- '_minions'_?" Giles' tone was incredulous.

"Yeah, we were right there with ya," Xander smiled at him before his face became serious, "But they came back- attacked Anya and…and they took Dawn"

"Dawn?" Giles sounded extremely panicked, "What? Where? How long ago?"

"Giles, it's okay," Xander desperately tried to calm him down, "Buffy has gone to get her." Giles still looked unconvinced as he looked at the open back door with worry, "It's just Harmony and three losers from High School she's sired. Buffy can uber deal. She and Dawn will be fine"

"Y-yes, I suppose you're right," Giles struggled to push his concerns aside as he knelt down to help Xander with Anya.

* * *

As Buffy and Dawn finally reached the back door of their home, they opened the door slowly, carefully and quietly and creeped into the room silently, neither wishing to be caught returning from the slaying. This plan was ruined however by the fact that Giles was sat at the kitchen counter. He looked at the two of them silently. 

"I preferred it when I only ever saw that look in the not-so-pleasant setting of the school library," Buffy grumbled, moving Dawn out of the way slightly so she could close the door.

"So…how much do you know?" Dawn asked bluntly, silently wondering how much she and her sister could talk their way around and out of.

"Dawn you know better than to give vampires invite," He said to her disapprovingly and Dawn immediately defended herself.

"It was a slip-up! I didn't mean to!"

"Just like you didn't mean to shout at Anya and shove her aside to run away at night where vampires were specifically waiting for members of this household?" Giles countered calmly.

Buffy looked between Giles and her sister and saw Dawn squirming uncomfortably as she tried to think of a way to excuse her actions. As annoyed as Buffy was with her, she couldn't not throw her a life preserver.

"Xander and Anya said they were waiting right at the door anyway Giles," Buffy reasoned, "Plus everything's sorted out right? Vamps dusted and Dawn hasn't even got a scratch,"

"For once," Dawn mumbled and Buffy threw her a look that clearly said 'don't push it'.

At that point the three of them heard Joyce come in through the front door and a moment later she walked into the kitchen.

"Sorry I'm so late," She apologized, "Everything go okay?"

As Giles went to answer he caught Dawn and Buffy's pleading looks and he inwardly sighed.

"Fine, apparently," he told her, "I only just got back a bit ago myself. The amount of different shop leases considering the abnormal amount of owners was quite a bit to look over"

"Huh?" Joyce looked at him in pure confusion, "What do you mean? What did the leases have to do with what happened?"

"I'll talk to you about that in a bit," he told her and she nodded in acceptance before looking over at Dawn.

"Well, I know at least one of us is supposed to be in bed by now," she said and Dawn smiled in reluctant acceptance before walking out of the kitchen, kissing her Mom obediently on the cheek before she left. Joyce smiled tiredly as she looked at Buffy and Giles.

"So how was the exhibit?" Buffy asked, feigning interest. Art may be her Mother's thing, but it had never been hers. Couldn't hurt to look interested once in a while though, could it?

* * *

"I'm still not sure about this," Joyce said, looking around warily at the Magic Box in all it's unopened…well not so much glory as danger, "From what Buffy said about previous owners…" 

"That they have a life expectancy of a Spinal Tap drummer?" Buffy supplied and Joyce tilted her head in acknowledgement.

"Exactly…I mean is this the safest business venture?"

"Well, can any business venture be considered safe?" Giles countered from behind the shop counter with a smile.

"Don't get facetious," Joyce told him and the smile faded.

"Well," Giles cleared his throat- a clear sign his answer was going to be a serious one, "I _have_ thought this through. I mean I was a librarian for years. This is exactly the same except people pay for the things they don't return" He walked out from behind the counter and headed over to Joyce who still looked concerned and unconvinced, "Plus, I've had more experience with all things hellmouth over the many years than any of the previous owners and with a slayer constantly making appearances I don't doubt, I'd say I have rather an edge,"

"Hmm…" Joyce sounded so very unconvinced. She thought of all the grizzly endings the previous owners had come to and she didn't want the same thing to happen to Giles.

_"Stop worrying," he told her, "Trust me,"_

_And then they're kissing again. Buffy just rolled her eyes and headed into the backroom. Apparently they're gonna turn it into some training room for her or something. Better if it was a games room. Save the world and then have a game of foosball. It'd be the perfect balance. Mom just told me off for being so silly when I made the suggestion. Upside? She can't really have an issue with me being here anymore now that Giles owns it. So pretty much of the good there. Who knows? Maybe she'll actually let me read the contents page of one the spell books next._

_Buffy keeps nagging at me to not touch or break anything. She still thinks I'm Little Miss Nobody, just her dumb little sister. Boy is she in for a surprise._

_God, they're still kissing._

_I'm beginning to see Buffy's point._


	3. The Replacement

Zigpal- thank you very much. Glad you liked the chapter- and ooh yay! claps! hehe

* * *

A/N: I know this is another episode-centric chapter, but it's only because a bit further on in the season it's kinda gonna go spinning off…

* * *

"I know this…Magic Box…is your thing…" Joyce debated as she and Giles sat together on the living room sofa, "But I think maybe it would be a good idea if I helped a little with getting it off its feet." 

"What do you mean 'it would be a good idea'?" Giles asked, clearly offended.

"I don't mean…." Joyce struggled to excuse what she said, "What I mean is, maybe I could help with getting your inventory sorted. It's a long and boring task and you know…I thought maybe you could use a little help." She gave him a pointed look as she thought back to when she first opened her gallery in Sunnydale, "Believe me, I speak from experience."

He laughed lightly before looking at her.

"Fine, your help would be appreciated, but let's not talk about it now,"

"Okay," Joyce agreed readily, "So what _do_ you wanna talk about? The wedding?" she suggested, "I mean we still haven't set a date-" He put a finger on her lips and she stopped talking.

"How about we just…don't talk?" he suggested slowly and she couldn't help smiling, "Buffy is out with Xander and Dawn is over at a friend's so I would say the house is very much our own for once"

"Don't wanna…. waste…. an…opportunity…." Joyce murmured as her lips brushed against his. The kisses only stayed light for a second before he pulled her tight against him as he crushed her mouth hungrily. She felt his tightly controlled intensity everywhere they made contact and squealed in surprise through the kiss when he swooped her legs up so she was sat astride him. He coursed his lips along her neck and collarbone and she whimpered as it sent hot shivers up and down her spine and she started to unbutton his shirt at the same rate he began feverishly unbuttoning her blouse. As soon as the offending items dropped to the floor lifelessly, they had their arms around one another again. It had been so very long since they had had the house entirely to themselves and now they seemed unable to halt or even slow down. Their mouths never stopped, taking turns exploring hot, bare flesh before returning to slow, deep and erotically enticing kisses. As she started to work the buckle on his belt the two fell backwards onto the sofa. It was as the belt clattered onto the floor further along from the shirts at the same time he began to slide her skirt softly down that Joyce registered that they were in fact still in the living room. "Perhaps…we…" She struggled to form words as she kissed fervently along his bare chest before reaching forward to look down at him, "should go…somewhere more…appropriate?" He returned her grin as he wrapped his arms tightly around her bare waist and stood up, picking her up with him and she yelped in pleased surprise before kissing him again so passionately he almost dropped her.

* * *

"It's just I always knew this job was just another temp thing, that it would come to and end," Xander said to Buffy as the two sat on his sofa in the living room of what used to be Giles' apartment. Buffy could only tell this fact by the familiar paintwork, layout and some of the items of furniture that Giles had left behind. Other than that it had now developed a certain Xander touch and if Buffy wasn't mistaken by the random items of clothing and occasional floral or particularly girly ornaments then there was Anya edge here too. "But then I didn't actually have a place to pay for," he thought about that for a second, "Well, I did, it just…" 

"Wasn't as rent-worthy as this?" Buffy filled in and Xander nodded.

"Exactly, and to be honest when this job ends…I don't know whether I'll actually be able to afford it anymore"

"Xander-" She went to console him and assure him everything would be fine, but he stopped her with a raised hand.

"No, I'm serious. In fact the likelihood that my parent's basement is going to regain its status as my hovel is becoming more and more possible," Xander admitted sadly. He really didn't want to move back with his parents, not just for obvious reasons, but also because he actually liked where he was living now. He had made it home.

"I don't think Anya would be happy about that little move," Buffy commented, trying to turn his worries into a joke to lighten the mood.

"Yeah," Xander agreed half-heartedly, "I think she's slowly moving in with me..."

"Slowly?" Buffy questioned with a raised eyebrow, "And 'think'?"

"Well, every time she comes round she leaves more and more of her things behind," He explained, "And she keeps staying over more and more for longer and longer periods"

"Ah the pains of a good, strong relationship," Buffy sympathized sarcastically. Xander dropped his head into his hands in exasperation.

"What am I gonna do?" His question was muffled by his palms.

"About Anya?" Buffy asked, looking around at the signs of Anya inhabitation, "Well you could start by cleaning up her clothes…"

"Not Anya," Xander said sitting up to throw Buffy a look, "I mean about my job…this place…argh…" His head dropped back into his hands.

"Don't worry. Something will come around," He just looked up at her as if to say 'ha. Nice try' and she shrugged in resignation, "Sorry, my sympathetic side is pretty much limited tonight"

"By what?"

"Time," She answered, looking down at her watch before grabbing her jacket off of the arm of the sofa, "I gotta pick Dawn up from Chloe's five minutes ago"

* * *

"It's early enough," Dawn whined, "And the ice cream bar is just down the street" She pointed down the road to emphasize the point as she and her older sister walked up to their house. She had begun the argument the moment they passed the ice cream stall and a block and half later Buffy still wasn't relenting. 

"No," Buffy insisted, "You'll ruin your appetite and Mom _so_ wouldn't you having ice cream before tea"

"But I had something at Chloe's," Dawn pointed out, desperate to win her sister over but the look Buffy gave her told her it wasn't going to work. Ever.

"I'll say it again," Buffy told her as she pushed open the front door, "No" She turned to walk into the hall and saw the items of clothing dropped on the floor leading from the living room and up the stairs. Buffy easily recognized her Mom's skirt. She closed the front door and turned back to Dawn. "So ice cream huh?" She suggested, leading her back down the front path.

"What? What is it?" Dawn asked naively, craning her neck back to the house, "What did you see?"

* * *

As Joyce sat at the round table at the Magic Box she paused in her work to briefly look at the piles of papers gathered around her. Taking inventory was a gruelling and boring task, but looking over at Giles she realized it was definitely a good thing that she had taken on the job. He seemed too thrilled looking through the many boxes of trinkets to pay any attention to the documents that stated what the trinkets were and how many of each he had. She'd so far organized it all into some form of categories. Books, charms, spell kits, crystals, objects-that-she-couldn't-really-describe (okay so that wasn't the real title but it was as good as. Some of the things in this store Joyce had no clue what they were). She noticed though that several collections and items that were visible on the shelves or lay on top of and in the various boxes littering the store were not listed in front of her and weren't on any papers she herself had written up. She looked around once more before realizing she had probably left them in the back room. It was a bare place at the moment but both Giles and Xander were working on it to become a training room for Buffy. 

"I'll just be a minute," Joyce called to Giles but he barely heard her as he chuckled in delight at the numerous charms he found in a box he had just opened. She rolled her eyes good-naturedly at him before heading into the back room.

As she caught sight of the papers she was looking for she headed over, but paused half way across the room as she heard a noise coming from the main part of the store. When she heard the crash she turned around and ran right back into the store.

She rushed in just in time to see a tall, cloaked demon gliding out of the store. Shelves were smashed and Giles was on the floor near the counter, clearly knocked aside by the demon. Joyce ran over to check if he was okay.

"Oh my god, Rupert, what happened?" She frowned at her own question as she helped him up, "Forget that. It's kind of obvious. What did he want?" She asked, referring to the demon that had just left.

"What else?" Giles looked at her, "Buffy"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Joyce checked, "You're not hurt?"

"Just my pride," Giles admitted, ashamed at how the demon has just tossed him aside seeing him of no importance.

"I'll erm, I'll call Buffy…and the others," Joyce told him, heading to a phone.

* * *

"Like this…and this…and this…" Joyce smirked a little as she watched Giles demonstrate to the guys how he had hit the demon with what appeared to be a statue of a fertility goddess. The girls were on the floor researching who the demon could have been, the guys were all attempting to be macho and Joyce was presently doing what Mothers do best. Clearing up. 

"That thing's pretty heavy," Riley commented.

"That's Oofdar, goddess of childbirth," Willow informed him, "She's got some nice heft to her"

"How badly did you hurt him?" Buffy asked with confidence

"Well, uh…hurt…maybe not uh hurt…" Giles struggled between lying and telling the truth and Joyce had to bite back another laugh. He had made her promise though not to tell the others of how he had been thrown into the counter. Joyce didn't know why- they'd all been thrown into one thing or another from time to time. She just supposed it was a guy thing- '_I must not show my weakness.'_

"He ran away, huh?" Buffy grinned

"Um, sort of…" Giles realized he would have to answer honestly, "more he turned and swept out majestically I suppose. He said I didn't concern him"

"So a mythic triumph over a completely indifferent foe?" Buffy teased just as her Mom, clean-up duty over with, headed back over to the group.

"Well it was a erm…" Joyce cleared her throat as she tried to think of something supportive to say, "It was a very speedy 'majestic sweep'" This clearly didn't help as Giles still looked very much insulted.

"Well I'm not dead or unconscious," He pointed out, "So I say bravo for me"

"Good demons in this one," Willow announced holding up a book, and thankful for the distraction Giles walked over to have a look through it, "See if your guy's in here"

"What I don't get is why he came here," Joyce said and Xander rushed into explain.

"The curse of the Magic Box," He stated before looking over at Giles, "Attacked before the store has even opened. Who's up for a big chorus of 'we told you so' symphony?"

"No," Joyce shook her head indicating that's not what she meant, "I mean I know that…well, a lot of _things_ come for Buffy but it's just a general slayer-grudge thing," Joyce winced as she struggled to explain that painful topic. No matter how involved she was now, or how much she helped she still wasn't happy with her daughter being destined to fight the forces of evil, "but he came specifically looking for her…and _knew_ to look in the magic shop" She looked around at everyone with an unsure shrug, "Y-You don't find that odd?"

"Toth" Giles said simply.

"Toff?" Joyce repeated, "Thanks," she said sarcastically.

"No," Giles shook his head, looking up from the book he was reading, "it's the name of the demon"

While listening to Giles explain Joyce caught sight of Xander messing with a crystal and she had the uncanny feeling that it was going to end badly. She took it gently out of his hands as though he were a small child and placed it back on the counter. He looked down as though he had been told off.

"It also says the demon is unusually sophisticated," Giles carried on explaining and Buffy frowned in confusion at what he meant by that.

"Sophisticated," She repeated, "So I should discuss men's fashions with him before I chop his head off?"

"That's referring to the fact he does not fight bare-handed," Giles explained in exasperation, "Using tools, and devices. He's also supposed to be very focused,"

"I think we know what the focus is," Joyce commented looking over at her daughter and Buffy smiled wanly.

"Little ole me," She sighed, "Man for once I'd like their focus to be fall fashions or something"

"Where do we find him and how hard can I kill him?" Riley asked feeling very protective of Buffy.

"Well there's no mention of the types of places he might frequent," Giles explained as he closed the book and stood up, "but I have an idea. He had a very specific olfactory presence"

"Well, I guess we're off to the old factory, I hate that place," Xander joked but then noticed no one was laughing, "I was joking. I know what he meant- he smelt," He looked at Giles for confirmation, an unsure expression on his face, "Right?"

"Some demon rituals involve anointing with oils," Willow pointed out, "Did he smell at all sandalwoody?"

"Erm…" Giles seemed to seriously consider this question before looking back at Willow with a definite answer, "No, not in the slightest. But he was very um…distinctive"

"Distinctive?" Buffy asked and when Giles merely nodded and didn't elaborate she sighed in exasperation, "My Cleopatra Dreams soap has a distinctive smell but I doubt Toth smelt of _that_."

"This was distinctive in the negative sense Buffy," He explained.

"Urgh," Willow winced catching onto what Giles meant, "We're going to the dump"

"Fun," Buffy said sarcastically as she and Willow stood up.

"Oh darn," Joyce cursed without feeling, "As much as I would love to help with that…little task…someone has to look after Dawn when she comes home so…guess I can't make it," She tried to act as though this was a bad thing and failed miserably, "But you know if I'd have known ahead I would have gotten a babysitter."

"Mom, nice act," Buffy commented with an even look, "But for a moment there I think you were scarily channelling Cordelia." Everyone looked at her in question, not sure what the reference was, "The insincerity?" Buffy prompted with a sigh.

"Well, erm, have fun," Joyce told them all enthusiastically and walking out of the store before any of them could come up with an alternate option that would allow her to go along.

* * *

"So the demon just disappeared?" Joyce asked Giles as put away several items of clothing away in her drawer. 

"Knocked down Xander and then seemed to cease to exist," Giles admitted.

"That's…worrying," A disappearing demon could also appear. Anywhere, "Is Xander okay?"

"Besides being thrown into a pile of rubbish, I'd say he was just fine,"

"Well that's-" Joyce was interrupted by the sound of Buffy and Dawn arguing in the hall. Joyce rolled her eyes at Giles before the two of them headed out of the room to see what was going on.

"Get _out_ of here," Buffy told her sister angrily.

"Mom, I can stand in the hallway right?" Dawn looked back at Joyce but before she could answer, Buffy spoke up as well.

"She's watching us like a big freak!"

Joyce sighed, putting a hand to her forehead.

"This must be my 'two teenage girls in the house' headache," She looked at Giles, "I thought it felt familiar," Giles laughed a little, but apparently the two sisters weren't seeing the funny side.

"Good work Dawn," Buffy said sarcastically, "You gave Mom a headache"

"I did not!" Dawn argued before turning to look back at Joyce, "Did I give you a headache Mom? I'm sure part of it is Buffy's"

"But part of it is Dawn's," Buffy insisted.

"It's so nice you've learned to share," Joyce told them, "Sort this out between yourselves. It's good for you," And with that she and Giles walked off leaving the two arguing sisters behind. Joyce heard the bang of a door and assumed Buffy had gone for the simple door-in-face answer to the problem.

"Do you really have a headache?" Giles asked with concern as they walked down the stairs.

"It's nice that you care," She smiled, "But…no." She stated simply and honestly. As they reached the bottom stair she looked up in the direction of Buffy's room, "But if them two keep at it I will." She sighed with a shake of the head, "I don't remember them ever fighting and arguing this much"

"I suppose that's always the way isn't it," Giles said, "The past seeming so much quieter than the present"

"No," Joyce denied, "I _really_ don't remember them arguing this much..."

* * *

"No, he looked exactly like me," Xander insisted as he told Buffy, Riley, Giles and Joyce about what he had faced when he had walked home a moment ago. "It stole my face. We have to find it and kill it." 

"Don't worry Xander-" Buffy was cut off by her Mom raising a hand telling her to be quiet. In the silence they heard a slight creak on the stairs.

"Dawn," Joyce called out, "Go back to your room."

Now discovered, Dawn stomped all the way down the stairs and stood in the doorway to the living room.

"Why? I wanna listen,"

"No" Buffy argued simply, feeling annoyed that her little sister had been eavesdropping at all.

"You know we don't like you listening into these…" Joyce struggled to find a suitable word that wouldn't make it seem even more appealing to the eager Dawn.

"Meetings?" Riley supplied and Joyce sighed. She was trying to avoid words like that.

"Why not though?" Dawn asked, "It's not like you're doing any fighting now. You're just discussing. I can learn things"

"Unless it's for the maths exam I _know_ you have to tomorrow Dawn, I don't think you're going to learn anything here tonight," Giles told her and the girl sulked.

"But-"

"_Dawn…_" Her Mom said her name in a tone that warned her not to push it.

"Fine," Dawn turned on her heel and headed up the stairs, "Janice and her Mom are coming to pick me up in a bit anyway!" She called back down to them.

"Well, ah, anyway," Giles carried on once they were sure Dawn was upstairs and out of earshot, "What's intriguing me is there are any number of demons with the ability to mimic a simple form, but this…uh this sounds more than that"

"How come?" Joyce asked. To her it sounded as simple as a demon looking like Xander. She couldn't believe she'd come to a point in her life where that was deemed simple.

"Hold up," Xander stopped them all, "Do we really have to figure out what it is? Let's just go kill it," Clearly the fact a demon was going around looking like him was making Xander aggressively paranoid.

"Yeah," Riley agreed with Xander, one of the first times he had ever done so, "when the impostor's killed it will probably just turn back into whatever it is and then we'll know"

"Yes, but let's be a little less eager?" Joyce suggested and they all looked at her, "Well you don't want to end up killing the wrong one…in your eagerness"

Riley nodded in agreement.

"She's right. Xander you should probably-"

"Toth!" Buffy exclaimed interrupting Riley, "The demon with the creepy stick thing"

There was a knock at the door as they all considered this new theory that Toth was behind it all. Joyce went to answer the door, hoping whoever it was, was someone who knew about all things slayer, or was a person who would be kind enough to be completely oblivious to the conversation going on in the living room.

"Kate," Joyce greeted Janice's Mom at the door. Behind her stood Janice. "Hi, I think Dawn's almost ready. Janice- do you wanna go help her out? You know how long she can take getting her stuff together," Not needing to be asked twice Janice walked into the house and rushed up the stairs to find Dawn.

"Those two are going to be a bundle of work again," Kate laughed.

"I hope you know how much I appreciate this…letting Dawn sleepover that is," Joyce thanked her, "I know Dawn loves it, but I feel like she's never away from your house."

"It's fine. Honestly," Kate assured her, "In fact I think it keeps Janice out of my way for a while." The two laughed a little, sharing a Mom Joke.

"Good thinking. When you kill this thing you better make sure you get the one that's actually a demon," Xander voice carried all the way over to where Joyce and Kate were stood. Kate frowned in confusion while Joyce turned to throw the entire group a wide-eyed look.

"Did he just say kill?" Kate asked in shock.

"Yes, he also said demon," Joyce informed her, "Drama student. He's…a drama student. Rehearsing for a play," Kate just looked at her, "A very alternative play…"

Thankfully at that point Dawn and Janice came down the stairs, Dawn's bags in their hands.

"We're ready to roll Mom," Janice announced.

"And possibly rock," Dawn added with a quirky smile but it faded slightly when no one laughed at the half joke.

"Have a good time honey," Joyce told her with a smile, giving her a peck on the cheek a moment before daughter and friend had rushed off down the front drive. Kate rolled her eyes a little before heading off after them to her car.

"Well, I'd better be off," Xander announced, "I asked Anya to come over to my place. I said I had something to ask her," At the look on everyone's faces he hurriedly shook his head 'no', "No, not _that_ question. I was gonna ask if she wanted to move in with me"

"Seriously? You and Anya?" Buffy asked as though doubting 24/7 Anya could be dealt with, but Xander nodded.

"Yeah, I think I'm finally ready to make that commitment" And with that he gave them all a little smile and left. Joyce closed the door behind him and headed back into the living room.

"So what now?" She asked.

"We find Toth," Buffy said, "_How _exactly is something else…"

"Maybe we should split up?" Riley suggested, "We'd cover more ground that way"

"Yeah," Buffy agreed, "You go check the places where he'd try to blend in as Xander and I'll look for place Toth would go"

Before anyone could contribute to the idea or say anything in argument or at all Willow burst in through the front door.

"I like how knocking never occurs to you lot," Giles commented sarcastically as he looked up from the book he was consulting, "Makes everything so much more spontaneous,"

"Buffy, Toth looks like Xander," Willow announced.

"We already know," Riley assured her, "We're on our way."

"Wait," Buffy paused, "How did you know?"

"He came to me. I-I mean Xander did," Willow told them, "And he's in a terrible shape. We need to help him"

"He came to us too," Riley said and Willow shook her head.

"No, we each had a Xander. I mean I had a Xander and y-you had a demon in a Xander suit!"

"Well, how do you know yours was the right one?" Buffy challenged and Joyce put a hand to her head.

"Argh, this is making my head hurt," She complained before looking at them all, "Didn't things seem simpler when zombies just used to attack the house?"

"Hey," Buffy said to her, "Things were simpler when you were Faith, I was you and Faith was me"

"I think it's safe to say simple isn't a factor in our lives," Riley smiled good-naturedly.

"Oh dear lord," Giles murmured but everyone ignored him as they continued to try and determine which Xander was the right one, "I said 'oh dear lord'" Giles repeated louder this time.

"You always say that," Buffy pointed out.

"Well it's always important," He countered as he headed back over to the group, "Neither Xander is a demon"

* * *

"Are you sure this will work?" Joyce asked as she, Giles and Willow drove along in her car to the Magic Box. 

"As long as the shop has all the ingredients-"

"It does" Giles insisted and Willow nodded in acceptance.

"Okay, I'm sure it does- well then it should work." She thought for a second, "As long as Xander's still alive of course,"

"Why wouldn't he be?" Joyce asked with a frown as she took a left turn, nearing the magic shop, "I mean Buffy and Riley know not to kill either of them"

"Yeah doesn't mean Xander won't" Willow pointed out and Giles nodded in agreement.

"It's true, if the Xanders find one another first they may end up killing each other. Or killing one and…"

"So Buffy and Riley have to stop Xander killing himself or he'll be dead?" They both looked at her, "You know what I mean"

"Oh god," Willow said, a realization suddenly hitting her, "What if they don't get to the Xanders first?"

Neither Joyce nor Giles chose to answer.

* * *

"Look and admire ladies," Scruffy Xander announced as he stood next to Suave Xander in the magic shop, both now wearing identical outfits. 

"More like look and be confused," Joyce corrected, feeling slightly dizzy at the fact of seeing twin Xanders. While Giles drew the final design on the floor for the spell and Riley sat on a step watching from afar, she, Willow, Anya and Buffy all stood in a row just looking at the two Xander in pure disbelief and slight confusion.

"Look there's a scar there," Buffy pointed it out on Scruffy Xander before pointing out the same thing on Suave Xander's forehead, "and there's the same one right there"

"It's all double," Willow agreed, heading forward to examine the Xander's as well, "this zit and this funny dippy thing. And this weird little hair that grows in the wrong way-"

"Okay!" Scruffy Xander batted away Willow's hands, "Back off ladies"

"As freaky as this actual is…" Joyce admitted, "Let's not tear him apart huh?"

"Yeah," Buffy agreed looking at the two Xanders, "Coz heaven knows we've had enough of _that._"

"Psychologically, this is fascinating," Riley commented from his seat on the steps at the back of the store, "Doesn't it make everyone wanna lock them in separate rooms and do experiments on them?"

Everyone just turned around to give him an odd look, silently questioning his Hitler Government-esque tendencies.

"Just me then…" He said uncomfortably.

"So you Xanders really do have the same memories, all the same…" Anya looked downward at the two of them, "Physical attributes?" She laughed suggestively and Suave Xander raised his eyebrow, intrigued while Scruffy Xander just grinned.

"We're completely identical." Suave Xander informed her.

"Yeah, we checked some stuff in the car on the way over," Scruffy Xander agreed before realizing what that sounded like and he hurried to correct their assumptions, "Fingerprints!"

"Well, maybe we shouldn't do this reintegration thing right away," Anya suggested looking back at the rest of the group, "See I can take the boys home…and we can all have sex together…and we can just slap 'em back together in the morning," She slapped her hands together with a smile to emphasize the point.

"Anya!" Joyce reprimanded in shock but Anya just scoffed in response as she saw both Joyce and Buffy grimace a little.

"Oh please, like you wouldn't think the same thing," She argued and Buffy silently craned her neck round to look at Riley with interest at the same time Joyce looked at Giles. Both guys looked slightly alarmed as they stood up.

"U-uh, we just to need to uh, light, the, uh light the uh candles," Giles stumbled over his words, "Also we should continue to pretend we heard none of the disturbing sex talk"

"Check," Willow nodded, "Candles and pretence"

"You seriously would consider it?" Giles murmured the question to Joyce as she stood next to him and she shrugged.

"What girl wouldn't?" She said and he raised his eyebrows in surprise, "What? It could makes things very interesting" She smiled slyly at him before walking off to have a closer view of the spell Willow was going to perform on the Xanders. Giles just grinned after her, before shaking his head and resuming focus.

"Well, what'll we do if it doesn't work?" Anya asked.

"Kill us both Spock!" The Xanders exclaimed in unison before bursting into geek laughter.

"They're kinda the same now…" Buffy commented in puzzlement pointing at the two of them.

"Yes," Giles agreed with a shake of the head, "He's clearly a bad influence on himself"

"Hey, summon the goddess, chant the chant," Scruffy Xander told Willow, "let's do it,"

"Actually it's not that hard," Willow admitted, "Your natural state is to be together. Toth's spell is doing all the work of keeping you apart. I just have to break it. So you two," She took a hold of the Xanders' shoulders and led them to the chalk markings on the floor, "stand right here. Side by side. We don't want you to end up with two fronts now do we?" She laughed nervously and both Xanders seemed to become suspicious.

"Are you sure you know how to do this?" Scruffy Xander asked but Willow didn't answer.

"Here we go," She announced after taking a deep breath.

"She does know right?" Joyce murmured to Giles, "I mean we're not gonna get no Xander…or like four of him are we?"

"I bloody hope not,"

Joyce looked back and realized there was now only one Xander.

"That was quick…" She commented, "And kinda anti-climatic" Buffy nodded in agreement.

"I liked it the other way," Anya decided before looking over at Willow, "Put him back"


	4. Out of My Mind

Rabidreject- thanks for review and hope you like how the season goes.

zigpal- Yay! More hand clappin! Hehe. And yeah, I don't remember that being part of the original episodes either...unless they were keeping it _really_ quiet. hehe. And yes, it will be going off-canon soon...in fact it went slightly off in this chapter, but only slightly. It is a hint at how things will go in later chapters though.

* * *

It was funny really. Here Joyce was, sat in her office at her gallery, all reminders that she was at the gallery around her, but the papers on her desk that she was rifling through weren't anything to do with it. No, they were to do with Magic Box. The things you do for love.

Carole walked into the office, a box in her hand that from the way she was carrying it, contained heavy objects. She set it down on a table in the large office before looking over at Joyce with a smile. She looked over her friend's shoulder and saw the header and footers on the typed document.

"You running two businesses now?" Carole joked, noting the fact that the gallery was most certainly _not_ the Magic Box.

"No, it's uh it's Rupert's new business," Joyce explained and Carole nodded in recognition.

"Ah, the fiancee. Got you doing his work for him eh?"

"Yeah…" Joyce sighed looking up at her friend stood behind her, "You know for an ex-librarian he isn't very good at organizing inventory." She paused in thought for a moment, "No tell a lie. He knows every single text that's on sale"

Carole chuckled as she sat on the desk, looking over the sheets herself.

"Still- it seems like a lot of work,"

"Well it's the only thing I'm helping with really," Joyce admitted, "Everything else is officially out of my hands. Xander is even doing the carpentry for the place"

"You spend a lot of time with that group now don't you?" Carole asked thoughtfully and Joyce looked at her in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Well, you know…" Now Carole had brought it up, she was reluctant to carry on with the topic but from the inquiring look on Joyce's face she saw she wasn't going to be able to get out of it. She sighed, "Like at first you were just spending a lot of time with Rupert- which, you know, is normal and you just like mentioned Buffy and her friends in passing- like they just happened to be there."

"Point, Carole?" Joyce prompted not seeing where she was going with this at all.

"But now you and Rupert, you seem to be spending a lot of time with Buffy and her little circle."

"Well, you know, they hang around the house a lot…" _to fight vampires…_ "So you know it can't really be helped."

"Yeah, I know…." Carole said slowly and Joyce knew there was further point to be made, "It's just you seem to be spending so much time with them and having less and less time for the gallery…"

"What? That's ridiculous!" Joyce argued, "I was here for the show reception the other week and I'm always here to oversee latest exhibits. I'm always organizing-"

"Yeah I know," Carole, admitted, interrupting Joyce's arguments, "You're here for the big things…but you used to be here everyday" Carole knew she was indulging in a little self-pity but she decided to go with it, "We used to have our little group working together…. and it was fun. Karen and Fin hardly even see you anymore- your working days matching up so rarely."

"Things change," Joyce stated, "I've just got a lot of things going on in my life right now"

"Like the wedding," Carole prompted, "I know…"

"Yeah," Joyce agreed whilst thinking of all the other parts that were playing a big part in her life right now. It was strange really how over all this time how involved she had become. Especially since she hadn't even known for years. Being more involved had just seemed like a natural progression. Like in Buffy's senior year, when she had started going to the meetings in the library more, just because she happened to be there with Giles at the time. Joyce wondered briefly who had looked after Dawn all those times she had been at the 'Scooby meetings'. She felt a headache forming and she rubbed her forehead in a failed attempt to ease it away.

"Headache?" Carole asked casually and Joyce nodded.

"Yeah, it's been kind of on and off constantly these past few days,"

"It's all this double work you've been doing," Carole joked, tapping the papers in front of her but then the smile faded as she saw how unwell Joyce really did look, "Actually you do look a bit off. Maybe you should go home for a bit"

"No, I'm fine," Joyce, insisted, shaking the concerns away but Carole wasn't having any of it.

"No, there's something going round lately and you may have caught it," She smiled a little, "So really it's selfish reasons I want you to go home- I don't want to catch it myself"

* * *

"Hope at school has the bug that's going round and her Mom rang in saying she just suddenly started vomiting and couldn't stop for hours and they like ran out of bags for it and she had no where left to throw up," Dawn informed her Mother as Joyce sat on the sofa with Giles as she still felt a little off after coming home from the gallery.

"Thank you Dawn," Joyce said patiently and the fourteen year old seemed to realize that maybe she'd said the wrong thing.

"What? I didn't mean it would happen to you"

"No, the visual's doing just fine," Joyce, told her with a smile but the comment only seemed to make Dawn frown in confusion.

"Sorry Mom, we're all out of aspirin," Buffy said as she walked in from the kitchen, "Must be all the hits people around here keep taking- it pretty much uses up all your painkiller supplies" Buffy thought for a moment, "I could get Riley to drive me up to the doctors if you want?"

"That would be great," Joyce smiled gratefully, "Thanks honey."

As Buffy went to call Riley, Dawn resumed the 'conversation' she had started before.

"And then my friend's sister's friend's cousin had this totally weird thing happen to her when she got a migraine- she like went blind and the doctor said to was temporary but it wasn't she never got her eyesight back"

"Dawn…" Giles began, seeing the look on Joyce's face and how Dawn's teenager ramblings were officially not helping.

"What?" Dawn asked, really not understanding what he was trying to convey to her, "_What?"_

"Buffy," Giles smiled pleadingly at the oldest Summers sister as she walked back into the living room. Thankfully, she seemed to get the message as she headed over and tapped Dawn on the back.

"Come on, Dawn, get your coat,"

"Why?" Dawn asked, but Dawn stood up anyway.

"You're coming with me and Riley,"

"But you never let me come with-"

"Changed my mind," Buffy interrupted, following her sister upstairs as they both went to get their jackets. She looked briefly back down at her Mom and Giles on the living room sofa and saw Giles mouth a silent 'thank you'.

"Urgh," Joyce complained, rubbing the sides of her head trying to will the pain away.

"Trust you to get a migraine the day we have no pain killers," Giles joked lamely and Joyce had to smile.

"What can I say? I'm awkward,"

Giles smiled back at her as she leant against him on the sofa, resting her head on him, eyes closed. He had been joking, yes, but looking at Joyce he could tell she genuinely felt unwell and he was so very worried that she was feeling more ill than she was letting on.

* * *

"Thanks, that's much better honey," Joyce assured Buffy as she took the painkillers Buffy and Dawn had brought home from the doctors, "I can actually feel them working all ready," She smiled but only Dawn returned it. Giles and Buffy still looked concerned, "Seriously I'm fine- or I will be once the painkillers do their job. I'm just…over-worked I think," She looked around for a moment, before looking up at Buffy, "So where's Riley? I thought he took you"

"Dawn," Buffy turned to her younger sister, "Go upstairs"

"What? No. Why do I have to? What are you even going to talk about? Because if it's about Riley I already kn-"

"_Go!"_ Buffy insisted and Dawn, throwing Buffy an annoyed look, stomped up the stairs to her room in exasperation.

"What is it?" Giles asked, "Did something happen to Riley?"

"Yes, but not supernatural," Buffy explained, knowing what Giles was getting at, "It's his heart. Dawn was messing around with the Doctor's stethoscope and she found something really bad with Riley- like his heart rate was way faster than it should be. The doctors said it was something called Tachycardia?" Both Giles and Joyce nodded to let her know it was the right word and she'd said it correctly, "They said it was really serious" Buffy looked incredibly worried, and understandably so.

"Oh my god," Joyce breathed, "So…he's at the hospital now?" Buffy shook her head.

"That's the thing- he won't have it seen to. He won't do anything about it. He just left. He could just have a _heart attack_ and he doesn't even care!" Buffy took a deep breath to relieve her frustration as she sat down on the coffee table opposite her Mom and Giles, "I couldn't do anything to convince him to stay- he just brushed it off as being a side effect of Professor Walsh's work"

"While I'm not denying that fact," Giles reasoned, "Lab rat or not- Riley shouldn't really be going without medical attention."

"I know," Buffy agreed, "But he won't accept that…or doesn't want to" She sighed again, "I just _know_ it has something to do with the Initiative,"

"Is there no way to get a hold of them?" Joyce asked in concern and Buffy shook her head.

"How can I? They don't even claim to have ever existed," She shook her head, "Spying on us every day but they're never around when you have something to say,"

"If they're really spying on you, just say something so you know they'll hear you!" A voice floated down loudly from half way up the stairs.

"Dawn!" All three adults shouted disapprovingly.

"You know…I've gotta go…." Buffy suddenly said, a thoughtful look on her face as she grabbed her jacket and ran out of the front door.

Giles and Joyce frowned at each other in confusion at Buffy before shaking it aside.

"Well, something must have clicked," Giles, surmised before leaning over to whisper in Joyce's ear, "_I think Dawn's still on the stairs,"_ Joyce nodded to show she knew.

"Dawn," She called softly and her youngest daughter headed silently down the stairs anticipating a telling off, "You know you shouldn't be listening in when we've told you not to. You know it's for a good reason"

"Yeah…to keep things from me," Dawn grumbled.

"No," Joyce laughed, "It's because some of the things said are too icky for my lil pumpkin belly" Joyce poked her daughter in the ribs playfully to emphasize the point.

"Mom!" Dawn giggled reluctantly, "Don't- that's like my kid name"

"So I'm being retro," Joyce smiled, but apparently Dawn wasn't so easily distracted.

"Mom, what's the harm in researching? Or just listening in?" Dawn smiled winningly and Joyce sighed as she realized she wasn't going to give up.

"You're just to young to hear all that,"

"And if you continue to listen in Dawn, you'll never get the full story," Giles informed her, "Ever hear the phrase 'eavesdroppers never hear any good of themselves'?"

"No…and well, let me hear the full story then" Dawn suggested and both Giles and Joyce laughed lightly at her before becoming sombre.

"No" They both said in unison. Dawn didn't say another word but merely stood there, arms crossed across her chest and sulked. She was being childish she knew, but she didn't care. She wanted to join in with the Scooby meetings. She'd never been allowed and it wasn't fair.

"Hey isn't it that programme you like now?" Joyce prompted as she looked at the clock and instantly a smile came across Dawn's face as she grabbed the remote and took a seat on the other side of Joyce. _So easily pleased_, Joyce thought with a smile as the TV was flicked on.

"But you're not feeling well…" Giles reasoned, looking at Joyce with concern, "I mean maybe it would be better if Dawn watched," Giles looked at the low-quality teen show on the screen in distaste, "_this_ upstairs, perhaps?"

"No it's fine," Joyce said, letting Dawn carry on watching the show, which she did so happily. Giles just continued to look at her, unconvinced by her assurances, "Trust me, headache's all gone now. Honestly"

* * *

"Poor Riley," Willow commented sympathetically as they all sat in the living room at Revello Drive and Buffy filled them in on the Riley situation. Everyone was here except the one person they desperately needed to find; Riley. Dawn was thankfully out with a friend so none of them needed to worry about the young teen listening into their conversation.

"Could he have simply gone back to his apartment?" Giles suggested lamely.

"No, he's not at his apartment," Buffy was the only one of them not sat down as she paced the living room anxiously, "he's not at the gym, he's not at the library…he's gone somewhere he doesn't wanna be found"

"Honey, stop pacing," Joyce tried to calm down her daughter, "It'll be fine, we'll figure it out. We'll find him"

"Will we?" Buffy sounded doubtful, "He's initiative boy. When he doesn't want to be found he really makes sure he isn't." She sighed in frustration, "I just don't get what he's doing this for."

"Maybe he just needs some time alone," Xander suggested quietly and although he had aimed the personal message directly at Buffy, he was acutely aware that everyone had fell silent and turned to listen to him elaborate on his theory. He cleared his throat, "Like I had this friend once, who really like this girl…and he got all worried that maybe she didn't like him back…" He saw Giles and Buffy just looked very, very confused. However, Joyce was looking at him closely as though making an effort to see through his 'code'. It looked like she was very close to breaking it and Xander didn't know what was worse- Buffy _not_ getting it, or Joyce figuring it out, "And maybe that made him act like a total jerk…" Xander added, but trailed off as he saw both Giles and Buffy looked even more confused. Joyce however was now looking at Buffy and then back at Xander. She seemed to think for a moment, before looking over at Buffy again. Yep, she'd got it. Xander cursed inside. It was meant to be a message only Buffy would get- it being a private, personal matter and all that- but her mother had caught the drift instead. Xander opted to give up, "Then again maybe not. Maybe he just wants attention"

As Buffy and the others decided how best to find Riley, Joyce thought on the 'hints' Xander had been dropping, which Buffy clearly didn't catch. Joyce wouldn't have caught them herself if the matter of Riley and Buffy hadn't preying on her mind for a while. Riley was literally the clean-marine guy. The man every mother hopes her daughter will find. The good one. And Joyce had been so very happy when Buffy had started a relationship with him. She had also been relieved. Relieved because this officially said goodbye to the dangerous relationship Buffy had had with Angel. Of course it had been good too be true, aren't most things?

Joyce had noticed the way Buffy was around Riley, it was hard not to notice when she had seen how much Buffy had been all over Angel when he was around. She just didn't seem to be the same with Riley. She definitely loved him and she could also definitely be as…_involved_ with Riley as she was with Angel, but she never was. She always seemed to hold back a little. Joyce put it down to all the slaying Buffy had done since she was fifteen, another negative point to the 'chosen destiny', that Buffy always seemed to want something a little darker in her man. She even seemed to mope over _Parker_ more than she did with Riley. Joyce sighed sadly as she realized that this monster-in-her-man complex her daughter seemed to have unfortunately developed, was going to stick around and persist as much as the vampires she hunted at night.

* * *

"So…" Joyce said casually as she walked down the street with Giles. They had just left from booking at the registry office making one of their first official decisions to do with the wedding; the date. They'd also decided that anything extreme, such as a church wedding, just wasn't them and so had chosen for just a small ceremony at the registry office- simple and sweet. They had set the date for 27th February at 2pm. Dawn had instantly complained about their choice of dates, saying it was neither one thing nor the other. It was the same month as Valentine's Day, but it wasn't. It's near to when they first admitted they were dating, but it wasn't. The day wasn't even significant as a whole. And that's exactly why the couple chose it.

It had been a tip from Buffy that had given them the idea. If the date of their wedding wasn't specifically significant then, she claimed, there was less chance of supernatural interruptions. She had advised they have it on Halloween next year to _really_ make sure, but they had said a definite no.

It was also the reason behind how they had made their second official decision. There were going to hold the wedding reception/party at the house. The party would be at the night time and as Buffy had stated, they would need a place where no vampires, the most hated and most frequent of gate-crashers in Sunnydale, wouldn't be able to get in.

"So…" Giles repeated Joyce's words and she smiled slightly.

"Seems kinda close doesn't it?" She asked, "With the date set?" They reached the car. She seemed to be waiting for answer from him and he turned to look at her as they got in the car.

"There's no correct response to that question is there?" He asked and she frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if I say yes it sounds as though it's too close for me and if I say no, it sounds like I don't care," He explained and she had to laugh.

"You think you've got it all figured don't you?" She challenged and he nodded slightly as he started the car.

"Yes, to a point," His smiled faltered when he saw Joyce resting her eyes as she lay comfortably in her seat, seeming to be already tired from the short excursion, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," She assured him opening her eyes sleepily to look over at him, "Just tired. Feeling a bit overworked- it's probably why I got that migraine in the first place," She added, reading his mind. She saw he still looked unconvinced and even if she couldn't read his expression she could tell as much by the fact the engine was on, but he wasn't driving the car anywhere.

"Stop worrying," She smiled, giving him a quick kiss to reinforce the statement and as she turned to casually look out her car window, she didn't see the look of worry still on Giles' face as they drove away.


	5. No Place Like Home

Rabidreject- Thanks for the review and here is the more haha.

Abryxis- As much as I think the Joyce story arc was a powerful, heart-wrenching and moving one that while made me bitter to the core also made me at the same time want to kiss the ground Joss walks on for just (and I warn you, I _will_ sound like a snob here) the whole cinematic mastery of it all, Yet, I am very pro-Joyce and so very pro-life on the Joyce front, so don't worry- in this fic Joyce will **_not _**be dying and in fact an altered storyline is going to change that fact. so yes- there will be happiness and erm non-dying and erm, thanks for reviewness. :-)

g120- 'great as usual'? Oh you're makin me blush! haha. And I love your coined term Cocorificfix and I'm very happy you're addicted ;-). hehe. Thanks very much for the reviewy goodness.

zigpal- there's woo and there's hoo for those claps. haha. thanks for what you said about making the story 'mine' and actually from now most of the chapters are going to get more and more 'mine' **.::Acts possessively::.** hehe. Cheers very muchly for review.

* * *

"So…Giles thought he'd work around that whole drive to the store together thing huh?" Buffy asked casually as she sat in the front passenger seat of her Mother's car. Dawn was sat quietly in the back, just listening to her Mom and Buffy talk. The three of them were on the way to the Magic Box for it's first day open. 

"I didn't know he was gone until I woke up and found the note," Joyce said honestly.

"At a normal human time?" Buffy quipped. The Summers women had woken up at a regular time of somewhere between nine and ten to find Giles had already left the house hours earlier, for the store.

"Don't be nasty," Joyce reprimanded but she was smiling as she did so, "Rupert was very nervous about this opening. He's been preparing for weeks"

"I know, I know," Buffy nodded with a roll of the eyes and she smiled too, "Check- no more teasing of Giles," She thought for a moment, "Unless he's seriously asking for it"

"Hey," Dawn leaned forward in her seat so she was leant in between her Mom and Buffy's seats, "now that Giles owns the Magic Box can I get free stuff?"

"No," both Buffy and Joyce told her in sync.

"Gawd," Dawn rolled her eyes as she sat back in her seat, "Why does everyone chorus 'no' at me?"

* * *

Walking through the doors of the Magic Box, all three heard the quaint sound of the wind chimes above the door ringing. As Buffy closed the door all three looked to the center of the store to see Giles stood there in a purple magician's outfit. All three women just stood looking at him silently. Dawn looked a little surprised, Buffy was staring him down- willing him to remove the hat and coat, while Joyce stood there biting back a giggle at the sight. 

"Who knew you were marrying Merlin, Mom?" Dawn commented with a grin and in resignation Giles removed the hat and cloak silently. Happy with the outcome, Buffy quit her stare down and started looking around the store with interest as did Dawn.

"Don't touch anything," Buffy told her, "Remember-"

"You break it you bought it, yeah, yeah," Dawn rolled her eyes as she continued to look around the store.

Joyce took a moment to silently tut at her two daughters before heading over to the disheartened-looking Giles.

"Nice outfit," She smiled at him.

"Very funny," He replied, adjusting his glasses slightly- a clear sign he was a bit embarrassed.

"Not _that_," She nodded in the direction of the discarded costume as she stroked her hand up and down his shirt, "I mean this one," holding onto the shirt, she reached up to kiss him warmly.

"Wow, Giles check out all the magic junk," Dawn commented as Joyce and Giles pulled apart.

"Dawn" Joyce's reprimand was a tired one as though she'd told Dawn off for such things so many times that it ceased to have conviction.

"Yes," Giles nodded, "Our new slogan"

"It is impressive though," Joyce added looking around the store with interest, "It's really all come together hasn't it?"

"Yes, well I'm sure it will have customers showing as much interest soon as well," Giles assured himself as much as anyone.

"When's it open?" Buffy asked casually as she walked over.

"Since nine this morning actually," Giles admitted.

"Oh honey…" Joyce said sympathetically, but Giles shook his head as though to say it didn't matter.

"No, no…I know Magick is a niche market…but with Sunnydale and it's well…. malevolent tendencies…supply and demand"

"Exactly," Joyce agreed with a smile, "it's just a little out of place here. Give it an hour or so…people will be pouring through the door"

"Until then-" Buffy reached in her bag just as Riley and Willow burst through the door, sending the wind chimes a ringing, "Until then you have Willow and Riley to buzz around the store"

"Giles! Where's your hat and cloak?" Willow asked excitedly.

"That was your idea?" Joyce asked, everything coming together.

"Well, yeah…I thought it was cute…" Willow trailed off, "Y-you didn't think it was cute?"

"He's been cuter," Joyce said looking up at Giles with a knowing smile, which he returned.

"Hey Willow!" Dawn cheerfully greeted the redhead, "You've gotta see these cool talismens…mans…talisguys…" Willow, intrigued, went to head over but Buffy interrupted.

"Actually I have a Scooby-centric thing to deal with first," She reached in her bag for the thing she was going to pull out before Riley and Willow walked in. It was glowing yellow globe. She placed it on the glass counter; "I put this before the group. What the hell is it?"

"It appears to be paranormal in origin," Joyce barely heard Giles say as she felt a little dizzy. She put one hand on the counter as she tried to steady herself. She was starting to feel very disorientated.

"Joyce?" Giles asked in concern at the same time Buffy said, "Mom?"

Joyce looked up at both of them, trying to focus on their faces, but their features were faded and unfocused as the dizziness started to take over. She looked to Buffy's right and saw a girl she'd never met before. She looked quite young, perhaps fourteen, with long brown hair. She was the only one here who she didn't know. Why was she here at one of Buffy's slayer meetings?

"W-who are you?" Joyce asked the girl, "What are you doing here?"

"What? Mom," Why was the girl calling her 'Mom'?

Everyone looked at each other in panicked confusion at the way Joyce was no longer recognizing Dawn and was questioning her accusingly.

"Joyce!" Giles caught his fiancee just as she nearly hit the floor as she fell unconscious.

"Oh my god…" Willow breathed as both Buffy and Giles knelt next to the unconscious Joyce, trying to determine what was the matter face off, "I'll call 9-1-1"

* * *

"What happened?" Xander asked as he came running in the hospital. Willow had called him straight after she had phoned Emergency Services. 

"We don't know." Buffy told him from where she sat with Dawn leant against her. Riley was sat on her other side.

"They won't let us in, they won't…they won't tell us anything," Giles added, ruffling his hair in frustration.

"But what actually happened?" Xander repeated, silently pointing out that the two of them had actually answered his next question.

"She just…collapsed," Willow told him, "In the Magic Box"

"Oh god," Xander covered his mouth with his hand, "But she's okay though?"

"She's fine," Everyone turned around to see an intern walking over to them and Buffy immediately stood up to greet him.

"My Mom? She's fine?" She asked and the intern nodded.

"Yeah," He nodded and he smiled as he saw everyone's relieved expressions and muttered 'oh thank gods', "I'm Ben by the way" He shook Buffy and Giles' hands while the rest of the group hovered in the background.

"So, do you know what happened?" Giles asked.

"Well, the doctors ran some tests but we're really not sure what caused the collapse" Ben answered honestly.

"You're not sure? What do you mean?" Buffy asked, panic causing her voice to go slightly higher

"It's nothing to worry about," Ben assured her, "it more than likely means that it was nothing more than a severe dizzy spell…low blood pressure…that sort of thing,"

"And that's all?" Giles double-checked.

"Pretty much," Ben nodded, "She doesn't have a history of fainting does she?" Giles shook his head.

"No, not that I know of," Giles looked to his right, "Buffy?"

"No, she, she doesn't, " Buffy shook her head, "She's usually really healthy,"

"Then she should be perfectly fine," Ben smiled and again felt the relief rush through the entire group in front of him. It was nice to bring good news once in a while. Working in a hospital meant bad news seemed to be delivered all too often.

"Where is she?" Giles asked, "Can we-"

"She's just finishing up with the Doctors, she'll be out in a moment," Ben told him, smiling again, "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm needed somewhere," He winced playfully, implying he was always late and it made Buffy smile as he walked off.

"Oh thank god she's okay," Giles said, rubbing his hand over his face in relief.

"Yeah," Willow agreed, "We gotta tell your Mom Buffy that in our line of work we're not big on the scaries."

"So its blood sugar right?" Xander checked, "So we just gotta make sure her blood gets sugared," Everyone looked at him with a frown and he waved their confusion aside, "You know what I mean"

Dawn was the only one who didn't look completely happy by the revelation that Joyce was fine.

"What's the matter Dawnie?" Willow asked and Dawn shrugged, before answering.

"Why didn't she know who I was?"

"You mean Mom?" Buffy asked and Dawn nodded, "Oh honey, she was disorientated."

"Yes," Giles agreed, "People suffering from low blood sugar have been known to have hallucinations at the time"

"Really?" Dawn posed the question to the group and they all nodded.

"Yeah," Xander smiled, "So maybe she was like seeing a pink elephant instead of you," Dawn giggled at his lame joke. "She was probably like 'a elephant in the magic box'? That shouldn't be here." Dawn giggled some more and Buffy looked at Xander with an appreciative smile.

"You'll probably have a good laugh about it later Dawn," Riley told her and Dawn nodded. At Riley's voice, Xander jumped a little.

"Almost forgot you were there buddy," Xander joked, "You were so quiet"

Riley shrugged

"Demons I can deal with, but hospitals?" He shrugged again, "They make me go pretty darn quiet. I just don't like them."

"Must be all the sick people making you feel icky," Dawn said and by her bluntness everyone knew she had gotten over her insecurities.

"Miss Summers, Mr Giles," A doctor spoke up causing them all to look in his direction to see Joyce stood with him. They all ran over as though double double-checking she was okay.

"It's, uh, nice to know you care," Joyce laughed giving Dawn a side hug as Dawn didn't seem to want to let go of her.

"Are you okay?" Giles asked.

"She'll be fine," The doctor answered the question for her and she seemed quite affronted by that. He held out a slip to Buffy, "This is for a general prescription. It should prevent any more dizzy spells or the headaches your Mother told me about. It will keep until we can do some further tests"

"Further tests?"

"Just some follow-up check-ups nothing to worry about," The doctor assured her. Buffy was about to ask another question when a nurse came along and interrupted her.

"Dr Issacs? You're needed in ICU"

Dr Issacs turned to Buffy and Giles.

"If you'll excuse me," They nodded as he handed the prescription to Buffy and left.

"So how are you?" Giles asked Joyce, now the doctor wasn't around to interrupt.

"Embarrassed mostly," Joyce admitted, "Putting you all through this for nothing."

"Don't be silly," Giles, told her, putting his arm around her.

"Well, the good news is no more tests so you can take this pincushion home," Joyce gave a weak smile and the others nodded. Buffy held up the prescription.

"I'm just gonna get this sorted out. I'll be right back"

As Buffy walked along the corridor to where she could receive her Mother's prescription a strong hand grabbed her arm tightly and she turned around to see a mentally unstable man strapped to a bed, looking at her with his eyes wide. He grabbed the prescription, while Buffy still kept a tight hold on it.

"Doesn't even help! Doesn't make a damn bit of difference!" It was then that Buffy recognized him. He was the security guard from when she found the glowing yellow orb thing. But he hadn't been the main feature of Insanity Fair then. "They're coming for you!" He continued, "Don't think you're above it missy! They come through the family! They get to your family!" He smacked back down on his bed, letting go of the prescription in Buffy's hand. As he was wheeled away Buffy looked from him to the prescription and back again and got the strong feeling her Mother's fainting spell was down to more than just low blood sugar.

As Buffy headed back, prescription in hand, Joyce noticed she looked little unnerved.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Buffy shrugged away her Mother's concerns, "It's…it's uh nothing really, but erm, Giles can I talk to you?"

Giles nodded and went to talk to her, but before she spoke Buffy looked at the rest of the group.

"We'll meet you outside guys," She told them and while they all look temporarily reluctant the four then headed off down the corridor and out of the hospital.

"What is it Buffy?" Giles asked, considering she sent the others away he had a feeling what she had to say was serious.

"I think I know what's made…. is making Mom sick,"

"What?" Giles looked confused, "But the doctors said-" Buffy shook her head, interrupting him.

"The doctors won't be able to help. What made her faint- what's hurting her- it's supernatural."

"What? Buffy, are you sure? How do you know all this?"

"You know the night watchman who found the glowy orb thing I was showing you guys earlier?" Giles nodded to show he understand what she was referring to, "Well, he went like crazy over night…he just grabbed a hold of me. He saw things…said things…. that seemed to bring everything together. It all made sense"

"Like what?"

"They'll come at me through my family," Buffy said sombrely.

"Oh my…. did he say who will?"

"No," Buffy shook his head, "But he could see things the rest of us can't- he knows something is hurting my Mom"

"Well, this is erm…enlightening," He paused for a moment; "In a really negative sense" He added feeling both angry and scared that something supernatural was making Joyce ill.

"Not necessarily," Buffy countered. "I can fight supernatural. We can. Whatever it is that's hurting Mom we can find…and kill"

"Y-yes, we can," Giles admitted, looking in the direction the rest of the group had left, "I'll get the rest of the group to research into the possible things- see what we can find"

"Fine," Buffy agreed, "But Mom can't know"

"What? Buffy, I think-"

"No, not until we know something for sure," Buffy argued, "If we don't know anything about it, it will only worry her more. Until we can say 'and here I go kill it' we can't tell her anything"

"Buffy I-"

"Please Giles," Buffy pleaded sincerely and he sighed in acceptance.

"Fine," He breathed, "But as soon as we do know anything…"

"We'll spill. But till then let's just research and keep making sure Mom's okay"

* * *

They had all wanted to take Joyce home, but she had insisted she was perfectly fine and refused to lie around the house being treated like an invalid as rather she wished to forget the entire embarrassing incident. 

To prove how fine she was now feeling, she had suggested they all head straight to the magic shop, if Giles hoped to get _any_ customers on his first day of opening.

They had arrived to find Anya behind the counter and numerous sale signs up. The store was full to the brim and through Anya's help, business was apparently booming. The group decided it would just be universally better for all them if they just accepted, and didn't question, Anya's actions. If they did, it would only go to confuse them more.

As both Dawn and Joyce had walked over to Anya, Buffy had taken the opportunity to update both Xander and Willow on the supernatural situation with her Mom.

Now she and Willow were very busy researching with Xander, while Joyce and Dawn both helped Anya with the customers. Giles kept trying to research also but customer after customer after customer kept asking him questions about items in the store.

"There's too many of them," Giles said in panic as he walked over to Joyce and Anya. Dawn was busy trying to wrap a parcel for a customer. Anya kept tapping her impatiently and telling her to hurry up, because, god forbid, should she have to resort to wrapping the things herself.

"You're doing fine," Joyce told him with a smile, "They love the store and they love you. And I think the British thing is really bringing up the sales"

"Yes," Anya agreed enthsiastically, "Be more British"

"I'll…uh…I'll try…" Giles frowned at Anya' odd command.

"Excuse me?" A young brunette came to the counter and Anya's eyes lit up at the thought of another potential customer, "I was wondering whether you had this in stock at all," The woman pulled out a piece of paper on which was a picture of an intricately designed talisman. Ancient Chinese in origin by face value.

"We sure do!" Anya automatically said with enthusiasm but both Giles and Joyce looked at her with a frown, "What?"

"I'm not sure," Giles, told the customer honestly, "I don't believe I can recall seeing an item such as this…"

"Do you know what it's called?" Joyce asked, figuring after all the inventory she'd catalogued she would perhaps remember the name.

"Talisman of Yanluowang,"

"You wanna talisman to protect you from death?" Anya asked sceptically, obviously instantly recognizing the name.

"No," The customer seemed affronted by the idea, "It's for a funeral ceremony"

"Yanluowang?" Joyce repeated and the woman nodded. Joyce remembered seeing a similarly complicated name before, "I actually think we might have it. Would you excuse me for a moment?" The customer nodded as Joyce headed into the back where more stock lay in boxes.

"Argh" Buffy exclaimed walking over to the group at the counter, "Nothing"

"Nothing on what?" Anya asked casually and Buffy briefly explained the situation with her Mom.

"…And I've got the list narrowed down to just under infinity" Buffy finished in exasperation.

"Well, you know," Anya finished a purchase with another customer before walking along the counter to Buffy, "There used to be this French sorcerer back in the 16th I don't know what named-"

"Cloutier?" Giles guessed and Anya nodded with a smile.

"So cute in his little knickers but he had this one little spell that all the demons hated called tirer la couture"

"Rotate many foodstuffs?" Buffy attempted to translate.

"Pull back the curtain," Giles corrected, "If this spell was cast…we'd be able to see the spell that was hurting Joyce…"

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked, "What does it do?"

"It's a trance to see spells," Anya explained but Buffy just looked even more confused.

"All spells leave a trace signature Buffy," Giles explained further, "The symbol of the spell and the symbol or signature of the person who cast it"

"Okay," Buffy nodded, "So I'll go and do what Monsieur Silk Knickers did. I'll get trancey and see what's affecting my Mom"

"Buffy, I don't know…trances are very difficult, especially if you have no experience with them," Giles reasoned, "Perhaps I should-"

"I can do this Giles," Buffy interrupted his suggestion, "It's my Mom. I have to."

Giles nodded in acceptance and Buffy turned to Willow and Anya, "What do I need?"

As Willow led her off to the ingredients Joyce came back from the main part of the store carrying a small box that presumably contained the talisman the customer was waiting for. It was only then that Giles remembered the woman had been waiting there and he desperately hoped she hadn't heard any of the conversation.

"Here, this is it right?" Joyce asked, lifting off the lid of the small box to reveal the talisman and the customer nodded with a smile.

"Oh yes, that's it exactly," As soon as she had confirmed this Anya snatched the item and it's box out of Joyce's hands and took it and the customer to the till. Joyce tried to muffle a yawn but failed miserably as Giles clearly saw how tired she was.

"What's the matter?" He asked, his thoughts flitting back to the spell that was making Joyce ill.

"I'm just really tired," She told him with a sleepy smile as she tried to stifle another yawn, "Worked off my feet I guess," She laughed but Giles had strong suspicions it was more than that.

"Mom are you okay?" Buffy asked, walking over as she finished packing her bag with the items she would need for the reveal spell.

"Why do people keep asking me that?" Joyce smiled, "I'm fine. Just a little tired. In fact…I think I'm gonna head off." And she walked around from behind the counter to grab her coat and keys off a nearby chair.

"I'll take you," Giles offered and went to come from behind the register himself but Joyce stopped him.

"No, your store- you need to stay here. I'm just sleepy- no big."

"Yeah and Dawn and I are about ready to go home now anyway," Buffy said giving Giles a pointed look that clearly said 'I'm going home to do the spell'.

"See? Nothing to worry about," Joyce told Giles, giving him a kiss over the counter before looking around the store, "Now, where is Dawn?"

"I'm here," Dawn, announced apparently appearing from out of nowhere, "Do we really have to go? I could stay here. Giles could bring me home"

"How can I put this?" Buffy asked before looking at her sister, "No. Now come on." And the three of them headed out of the store, pausing briefly to give a little wave in the direction of Willow and Xander who were still researching.

"What are they looking for?" Joyce asked casually as she left the store with her daughters.

"Oh just regular slay stuff, vamps with fancy names that sort of thing," Buffy explained vaguely as they walked over to the car.

* * *

Everything was in and out of focus. The colors seemed faded and bright at the same time. The hue seeming to constantly change. The once familiar house was now confusing, new and strange. Buffy had successfully completed the trance and was now trying to head down the stairs to where she knew her Mother was sitting in the living room. However, the once safe looking stairs seemed to move as she walked towards them and she worried if she took even the first step she would fall down the rest. Putting her left hand on the wall and her right on the banister she led herself down the ever-changing stairs slowly. 

Eventually she made it to the living room and there her Mom was sat, feet up, reading a book she was apparently very absorbed in. Squinting for a closer look Buffy stepped toward her Mom. Aware that she was being watched, Joyce looked up.

"Oh hi Buffy," Her voice echoed and seemed distant, miles away. But Buffy wasn't paying attention to her words, but rather the glowing symbol that seemed so multi-dimensional that Buffy didn't know whether it was on her Mom, above or what.

"The spell…" Buffy murmured, staring at her Mom as she committed the symbol to memory. Joyce suddenly seemed concerned at Buffy's behavior.

"Buffy are you okay? You seem…a little out of it"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just tired is-" Then Buffy caught sight of the picture on the table next to her Mom. It was from when they first moved to Sunnydale. There was her, her Mom and…no Dawn? There was Dawn. Now no Dawn. Buffy spun around to look at the other family pictures on the shelves and walls. It was happening on all of them- Dawn kept flashing in and out of existence. Needing to know more, to understand what it meant, Buffy headed off upstairs to Dawn's room. She dimly heard her Mother calling her name in confusion, but she didn't answer. She needed to find out what the pictures meant.

* * *

"Uh I don't know what to say," Giles whispered to Buffy as they sat in their living room at night. They both had to whisper because Dawn and Joyce were asleep in bed and they didn't wish them to hear what was being said, particularly in Dawn's case. 

"Tell me about it," Buffy agreed thinking back to what the dying monk had told her about the key, about Dawn.

"She has no idea?"

"No, she thinks she's my kid sister"

"Do you think we should tell her?" Giles asked but Buffy shook her head.

"No she'd freak. And we can't tell Mom either- for her to know…it could put her in danger," At this Buffy remembered that she had something else to tell Giles. With the shocking revelation that her sister wasn't actually her sister, she had almost forgotten the primary reason she had cast the revealing spell in the first place, "There's something else,"

"What?"

"About Mom…" At this Giles seemed to remember to. It was amazing what finding part of you life was a well-fabricated lie could do to your memory.

"What did you find? Was there something?" Giles seemed desperate for Buffy to have found something. To have found something would confirm that the symptoms were supernatural in origin- something they were both qualified to fight. But if Buffy had found no spell on Joyce, then it meant it was purely medical and he was powerless to help.

"Yeah, there was a symbol like on her…sort of floating…or glowing…I'm not quite sure," Buffy told him honestly, "But I got a good look at the design" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper on which she had sketched the symbol.

Taking the paper from her Giles looked at the symbol carefully. He could easily differentiate the two interwoven parts of the symbol- the signature of the spell and the signature of the caster. At a glance Giles did not recognize the spell that had been cast on Joyce- a problem which could be easily solved with research, but he could definitely recognize the signature of the spell caster. He just couldn't believe what he was seeing. After last time, and now this?

"Giles?" Buffy prompted as he had fell into silence, "Giles, what it is it?"

Giles didn't pull his gaze away from the symbol as he answered Buffy's question.

"Ethan."


	6. Family

Zigpal- Thanks for the claps and review. hehe. As for the Ethan storyline you'll just have to see how it all turns out...but yes, Riley will be leaving like he did in the series

rabidject- thank you for the complimenttary review- you made me blush! haha

* * *

A/N: Sorry it took me longer than normal to update, but having been too well this past week- had a few bad headaches and that, so couldn't really do the typing thing. Feel fine now so here's your Cocorific dosage. Haha.

* * *

"I can't believe it would be Ethan," Buffy carried on as she and Giles sat in the living room talking it over quietly, Dawn and Joyce still asleep upstairs, "I mean after what he did last time…" 

"Ethan's never been one for learning lessons," Giles told her grimly but Buffy still shook her head in confusion.

"I thought the military had him anyway?" She said, referring to last year when Riley had had him carted away, "How did he get out?"

"Well, that was part of the Initiative," Giles pointed out, "So my best guess would be that when the Initiative closed down so did the detainment and rehabilitation center Ethan was being kept in"

"Stupid government." Buffy grumbled, "So much for rehabilitation. When we find him I'm going to give him my own brand of community service"

"First, we need to find him" Giles pointed out, a plan forming in his mind, "I suggest we get Tara and Willow to do a locator spell."

"Yeah, they are the Wicca girls," Buffy agreed, "What d'we tell Mom?"

"Uh, nothing. For now that is," Giles answered, "We don't know enough yet and I don't want to cause her any further worry"

"Right," Buffy agreed, "Right. Good point. Until we gotta bead on Ethan…right. Right"

"But I think we should at least tell her about Dawn," Giles proposed but Buffy immediately disagreed.

"What? No, she can't. She doesn't need to know"

"Buffy, it's her daughter. She has every right-"

"No, it wouldn't be fair. Not because of Mom, but because of Dawn," Giles stopped arguing as he listened to Buffy's insightful point, "For Mom to know Dawn isn't really hers would not only break my mom's heart but she'd instinctively act odd around her…and that's not fair on Dawn." She looked at Giles, willing him to understand and agree with her, "No one is to know, except you and me"

* * *

"But we just helped her move her stuff in a few days ago," Anya whined to the others in Buffy's dorm. She turned to see Buffy stood there looking at her and she plastered on a fake smile, "And it was fun!" 

"People help each other out," Giles said from where he was stood in the far corner with Joyce, "It's one of our strange customs"

Anya grunted in detest but carried on packing up various items. Buffy however, couldn't help noticing that Giles wasn't so much packing as stood talking and doing the hand-holding thing with her Mom. There was also gooey-eyes to be witnessed.

"Giles," Buffy interrupted the two of them, "I see you're doing the least amount of helping that can actually be called helping"

"Well, uh…" Giles struggled to excuse himself, "I, uh, saw myself in a more patriarchal type role. Pointing, scowling…"

"And smooching my Mom?" Buffy finished with a chipper smile and Giles shrugged in acceptance.

"Well, uh, y-yes," He admitted and then caught sight of Xander and Riley fighting childishly in the corner. He expected it of Xander, but not Riley. "You two! Stop that!"

"He started it!" Riley argued and Joyce sighed, feigning nostalgia.

"Ah, you are all growing up,"

"He called me a bad name!" Xander said while Riley still had him in a headlock, "I think it was bad. It might've been Latin"

"Stop it you two or your going to break something!" Giles shouted at them, but they continued to fight.

"Or I'll break something," Buffy added with a sugar sweet smile and immediately the two guys broke apart.

"Effective," Joyce commented and Buffy nodded.

"I like to think so,"

"Still can't believe you're giving up this cherry corner suite" Xander commented

"Yeah, just a few days after we moved you in!" Anya was making an attempt to sound cheerful and happy about it, but was failing miserably to do so.

"It's no big," Buffy shrugged, "I mean with Mom not well-"

"I'm _fine_," Joyce argued, "It was just a little low blood sugar- nothing to worry about Buffy" She seemed to realize something, "That's not the reason you're moving out is it because-"

"No, no," Buffy shook her head denial, catching Giles' eye as they both realized how close she had just come to slipping up, "It's just when that happened, that being small and insignificant of course, it made me realize I wanna spend more time with my family…be at home. With Dawn and everything. You know- more quality sister time with Dawn."

"I'm sure she'll be thrilled," Joyce said sarcastically with a smile. Ever since Buffy had announced her moving back in the other day Dawn had done nothing but complain. Saying that they'd only 'just got rid of her' and how she'd barely survived the summer vacation with her living with them.

"Wait, where is Dawn?" Buffy asked, looking around in panic.

"Oh she just went out with a couple of boxes," Joyce explained, "She'll be back in a-"

"Dawn!" Buffy ignored her Mother as she rushed out into the hall to check where her sister was. "Dawn!"

"Some of your CDs are my CDs," Dawn told her, breezing back into the room without looking at her.

"I know, now fold," Buffy ordered, pointing her in the direction of the sheets. While Dawn sighed and headed towards her assigned task, Buffy walked over to Willow who was stood alone sealing up a cardboard box.

"Willow can I talk to you for a minute?"

Willow looked up at Buffy, panic filling her eyes.

"What? It's not about Tara's birthday? You can still make it right?"

"What?" Buffy asked in confusion, before something clicked in her memory banks about a Bronze party for Tara. She also remembered that she still needed to get her a gift, "No, it's nothing like that it's just…" Buffy looked around, aware that there were others in the room that could overhear their private conversation, "Can I talk to you outside?"

"Yeah, sure…" Willow said sounding worried as Buffy led her out of the room and into the hall. "What is it?"

"It's…you know like I thought something supernatural was hurting my Mom?" Buffy reminded her and Willow nodded.

"Yeah, why? Did you find something?"

"Oh yeah, I found something alright," Buffy nodded grimly, "Ethan"

"What? Huh?" Willow asked in confusion before her eyes widened in shocked understanding, "Wait, _Ethan's_ behind all this?"

"Looks like," Buffy told her, "Giles recognized the spell signature…or whatever it is."

"Oh my god…" Willow breathed. She knew how terrible Ethan was, especially after the events of the previous year, but she didn't think even he could sink this low, "Does your Mom know?"

Buffy shook her head.

"No, we don't wanna worry her until we've found Ethan," Buffy told her, "Which is where you come in. And Tara, I guess"

"What do you want us to do?" Willow asked, ready as ever for the task Buffy was going to set, whatever it was.

"I need you to do a locator spell…"

* * *

"So…what'd you get her?" Buffy asked casually as she, Xander and her Mom poured over the books in the Magic Box, looking for anything that could link them to the woman she had had to fight when she saved the monk. She hadn't been too keen on her Mom researching, especially with this spell Ethan had on her, but after hearing how terribly strong the woman was and how close it had come for Buffy, Joyce had insisted that she had to help. She couldn't not, and Buffy, to some extent had understood that. 

"Huh?" Xander asked in confusion, wondering what Buffy was talking about.

"Tara," Buffy explained, "You said you'd got her a present already"

"Yeah, that was a tangled web of lies sweetie," Xander informed her smoothly.

"Xander…" Joyce reprimanded and he shrugged shamefully.

"I couldn't think okay? My mind's all blank when it comes to drawing when I think about a gift for Tara. I mean what does she even like?"

"I don't know!" Buffy said in exasperation and Joyce briefly looked at the two in amusement before continuing to look through the books, "I mean, I like Tara"

"Yeah," Xander agreed, "She's super nice"

"Super, super nice," Buffy added with a nod, "But…"

"Yeah, 'but'…" Xander nodded in understanding though neither furthered their explanation.

"So you think they'll be a lot of Wiccas there?" Buffy asked, going for a slight change in subject, "Heavy Wiccan crowd?"

"Well that's sort of her deal," Xander pointed out, "Her and Willow are all Wiccy. Swingin' with the Wiccan lifestyle"

"Which is cool," Buffy commented

"Well yeah…" Xander agreed and Buffy was about to reply when her mother slamming a book closed loudly made her jump.

"Will you two please just get straight to the point you are both trying to make, because you are making me _crazy"_

"Okay!" Buffy admitted, slamming her head down on the table, "I have no clue what to buy Tara for her birthday," She sat back up to look at her Mom, "I mean I saw this blue sweater in Bloomy's…but I think I want me to have it"

"And you're talking about what exactly?" Giles asked as he walked over from the ladder to the second floor of the store.

"Tara's Birthday." Xander told him, "We're both at an official loss"

"You're in a magic shop and you can't think what Tara would like…" Giles said slowly and they both nodded, "I think you're both profoundly stupid"

"Well we don't really know the kind of things witches…like," Xander admitted, "What are we supposed to get her? One of those cheesy crystal balls?"

"Bloody well better not," Giles told him, "I've already wrapped mine."

"No you haven't," Joyce told him firmly.

"I haven't?" Giles was understandably confused.

"No, we bought her a lovely rose quartz pendant necklace and bracelet from au Naturel"

"We did?"

"Yes"

"Right," Giles accepted just choosing not to question any further as he walked over to the shop counter.

"How come I couldn't come up with something like that?" Buffy pouted childishly and Joyce laughed at her.

"Just stop thinking of her as a witch and more as just a girl" Joyce advised, "That's how I came to a happy medium"

"She has the knowledge of gift giving," Xander acknowledge with a nod of awe, "Share thy wisdom"

"That's all the wisdom you're getting," Joyce told him with a smile as she picked up the book she had been reading and got up to put it back on it's shelf.

"Urgh, this is too much thought," Buffy frowned, but her face cleared when an idea came to her. She turned around in her chair to look over at her Mom, "Hey can I go thirdsies with you and Giles?"

"Aww, poor Buffy…" Joyce said sympathetically as she headed back over to the table, "But no."

"Uh, are all these magic books?" An unfamiliar voice drew them all out of the gift predicament and they looked over to see a young man with blonde hair and a beard.

"Uh, private collection," Giles told him, "Books for sale are over there" He gestured with his cup of coffee. Instead of walking over to the shelf the stranger carried on asking the group questions, heading over to the table they were sat at and started flicking casually through the books.

"So all these books got spells in them?" He asked, "Turn people into frogs, things like that?"

"Yes," Xander agreed, his tone sarcastic, "We're building a race of frog people"

"So, uh, you all witches?" He held up his hands in mock surrender, "Hey don't do a spell on me now"

He was the only one who laughed. The group all just looked at him strangely in silence. Who the hell was this guy?

"Was there something in particular you want?" Giles asked him, getting to the point.

But before he could answer everyone heard the sound of Tara and Willow giggling together as they walked into the store and the blond stranger turned around to look at them.

"Well, whatta ya know?" He grinned and Tara immediately stopped laughing as she laid eyes on him, "What's the matter? You don't have a hug for your big brother?"

* * *

"It sounds terrible, I know, but I had never actually considered Tara having family before," Joyce admitted to Giles as she tidied up in the kitchen. The kitchen wasn't exactly messy per se, but it had the potential to be tidier. 

"Yes," Giles agreed, "But Tara herself seemed less than pleased to see them"

"Yeah, I know," Joyce, said turning around to look at him, "I mean it's her family…and she acted as though the were bounty hunters who'd finally found her. There's just something not right there…" She bit her lip in concern, "What if they've hurt her?" She asked, her eyes wide in worry, "Before she moved away? Maybe that's why she moved so far…" Another thought hit her, "What if they're hurting her now? While she's alone with them?" She felt incredibly protective of Tara. Well, she did for then entire group- Spike included to a certain extent, but with Tara- she was just so quiet and timid and sweet that Joyce just wanted to take care of her and make sure nothing happened to her. But this was family. She couldn't really intervene when it was Tara's family. More was the pity.

"I'm sure she's fine," Giles said, walking over to assure her, "It's her family. They love her- so what's the worst that could happen?"

Joyce smiled at his words, but silently wished he wouldn't jinx things like that.

* * *

"I dislike high shelves," Anya commented as she tried to reach up to the research books on the top shelf in the store. Joyce was also trying to reach the texts and failing also. 

"Tell me about it," Joyce rolled her eyes as she stood on the top step of the ladder, yet still couldn't quite reach the books Willow and Giles had said they needed and weren't on the table.

"Don't see why they couldn't get it themselves," Anya grumbled, as she stood on her own stepladder trying to reach, "We're just their slaves"

"Yes, but a paid slave," Joyce encouraged her, referring to the fact she was the only paid employee at the Magic Box. Anya nodded in agreement with a smile.

"Yes, the money does make it better," She frowned, "But it doesn't make the books come off the shelves"

"No…it doesn't…" Joyce agreed with a frown, decided to give up, "Rupert!" Giles looked up from the book he was reading, "Could'ya help us out here a little? Please?"

"Dawn, could you close the door?" Giles asked as he headed over to where Joyce and Anya were struggling. Even though he was heading over to help, they were still attempting to reach the texts themselves. At least this proved Dawn wasn't going to be able to get her hands on the books any time soon.

"I didn't open it," Dawn replied, shutting the door anyway.

"Nearly got it…" Joyce murmured, reaching the corner of the book and Anya watched encouraging her to reach the text when it fell off the shelf and hit Giles on the head. "Ooh!" Joyce winced, "Sorry"

Anya merely smiled, looking from Giles and back to Joyce.

"Do that again."

"No," Joyce told her simply with a slight smile going to step down the ladder. Unfortunately, haven't stretched so far up she no longer quite had her footing and as she went to walk back down the first step she slipped slightly and fell. Luckily though, it wasn't very far as Giles caught her in time, causing Joyce to smile at him and Anya to watch with further interest.

Anya seemed thoughtful for a moment before turning and heading back to the table where Xander was sat.

"You should try that sometimes," She told him.

"Huh?" Xander asked looking confused "Is this one of our conversations that I'm not a part of?"

"That," Anya pointed out where Giles was just placing Joyce back on her own two feet, "The catching thing. It would be romantic- we could make it into a game."

"A game?" Xander gave a nervous laugh in the direction of Willow who was now listening into their conversation. "What do you mean 'a game'?"

"Oh you know…" Anya smiled, "Like those fantasies you like us to play out before sex. There's the one with me in a gold bikini…princess Lala or something to that effect"

"Okay, Anya…" Xander said patiently, glancing to his right to see Willow's reaction. She was watching the two of them in interest, an amused grin on her face, "you're entering the scary share land now. That place we never go in front of friends"

"Would that be the part where she dishes the dirt on your little sex fantasies?" Willow asked, "Or the part where she seems to want to incorporate Giles and Joyce as one of them?"

"Oh I didn't mean that," Anya smiled, "Not exactly anyway…" She added with a shrug but Xander was no longer listening as he stood up.

"No, no more. Either of you, no more talking!" And with that he stomped off to another part of the store.

"Giles!!" Buffy shouting from the training room drew all their attention as they automatically headed slightly in the direction of the room, wondering what the matter was.

Xander reached the door first, but could go no further than that as he felt hands grab him by the shoulders and start pushing him back. He fought against whatever it was, but it was too strong.

"W-what's going on?" Dawn asked sounding worried as she ran over to her Mom and Giles. Both were watching Xander in confusion. Something was fighting- just no one could see what.

"Oh baby, come here sweetie," Joyce pulled Dawn closer to her, putting her arm around her protectively as she looked for a safe place for her to hide. She did not want Dawn getting caught in the invisi-gunfire.

The whatever-it-was had pushed Xander against the table, choking him but Willow knocked it aside by hitting it with a chair that smashed on impact. Upside was Xander could now breathe; the downside was that they still couldn't see the thing.

"Where'd it go?" Anya asked in panic, looking around as she held a crystal ball like a weapon. Her question was answered by Willow being sent flying into a wall.

"Rupert," Joyce said, her voice filled with worry as she looked down at Dawn. It was hard enough protecting her daughter from all the hell beasties her eldest faced, without them being invisible too.

"Uh, under here," Giles said, lifting up the cover of a table so Dawn could crawl underneath to safety. As soon as he did though he was knocked aside by an invisible punch.

"Rupert!" Joyce exclaimed just as Xander shouted 'it's over there!' As she went over to Giles though, she herself was knocked away, sliding across the floor at the same time Anya was knocked into a shelf on the other side of the room. She opened her eyes, having had them squeezed shut as she slid across the room, when she felt herself stop moving and saw she was all the way next to Anya. Xander held his hand out and helped her up.

"I think there's more than one," He concluded.

"Yeah, but how many?" Anya asked, looking around nervously, "I've already been hurt once this month!"

"Shut up!!" They all fell silent when they heard Buffy's command and saw her stood in the middle of the room trying to hear where the demons were since she couldn't see them either.

Joyce took the moment to run over to where Dawn was hid.

"Are you okay sweetheart?"

"Mm-hmm," Dawn nodded weakly, "What is it? Why can't we see them?"

"I don't know…" Joyce answered, "You're sister will sort it out, I'm sure. You _are_ okay though?"

"Yeah, Mom, I'm fine but…"

"But what honey?"

"But I'd like to come out from under the table now"

Joyce looked to see that to her surprise the demons were now visible, Spike was here and Buffy was slaying the last demon. She covered Dawn's eyes just to be sure she didn't see anything. Once she was sure there were no more gruesome sights to be seen she held out her hand to lift Dawn out from under the table.

"What _was_ all that?" She asked as she and Dawn went to stand next to Giles.

"That's exactly what I'd like to know," Buffy said, turning to face Tara, who was crouched on the floor, with a steely glare.

"What in God's name was all that?" Another person asked and Joyce looked up to see Tara's family were back in the store and said Tara looked an emotional wreck as she leant against the counter on the floor.

"I-I'm so s-s-sorry," She stuttered, clearly upset, "I-I was just trying to h-h-hide" Willow, now conscious after her little fly into the wall, came to kneel beside her, "I didn't want you to see what I am"

"Tara, what?" Willow was as understandably confused as everyone else.

"What do you mean 'what you are'?" Buffy asked straightforwardly.

"Demon," Mr MaClay filled in, "The women in our family…have demon in them. Her Mother had it…that's where the magic comes from"

"_Just_ the women? That doesn't make any sense," Joyce thought to herself, relying on the tiny knowledge she had about DNA. She then realized by the way most in the room were looking at her, that she has said the thought out loud, "I-I just meant if it's inherited wouldn't it be on all one side of the family? Not just the women…"

"Evil can not be explained Mrs…." Mr MaClay began.

"Summers," She filled in reluctantly. She didn't like him and wasn't keen on the whole talking-to-him thing.

"Mrs Summers," He carried on, "It runs through the females and that's all we know. We came to take her home before well…before things like _this,_" He pointed to the dead demon on the floor, "Started happening."

"You think this is _new?"_ Buffy asked him.

"You cast a spell on us…to keep us from seeing your demon side…" Giles said to Tara with realization, "That's why we couldn't see our attackers"

"Nearly got us killed," Buffy commented with a grim look, which Tara interpreted as anger and disappointment.

"I'll, I'll go" She said, looking to Buffy, "I'm very sorry."

"What? Wait, what?" Willow grabbed a hold of her arm to stop from leaving, "Go where? I, she, just did a spell that went wrong. It was just a mistake"

"That's not the point," Mr MaClay argued, "And it's not your concern. She belongs with us. We know how to control her…problem"

"Tara…look at me," Willow said both sounding and looking distressed, tears pricking at her eyes as she and Tara made eye contact, "I trusted you more than anyone in my life. Was that all just a lie? Do you wanna leave?"

"It's not your decision young lady," Mr MaClay interrupted impatiently and Willow turned to look at him with a glare.

"I know that!" She turned back to Tara, her expression softened, "Do you wanna leave?"

Tara was in floods of tears, as she shook her head 'no'.

"You're going to do what's right Tara," Mr MaClay stated without a trace of emotion about the fact his daughter was crying her eyes out silently, "And you're coming with us"

"You can't seriously think you're going to take her?" Joyce asked incredulously, "She's falling apart. She doesn't _want_ to go. Doesn't what your own daughter wants count for _something_ to you?"

"I'll ask you to mind the fact that this is none of your concern either," Mr MaClay told her, "Just like her," He gestured to Willow, "You have no right prying into family affairs"

"And I'll ask you to mind what you say," Giles warned him, but the unvoiced threat seemed to go over Mr MaClay's head as he glared around at the entire group.

"Tara belongs with her family. I hope that's clear to the rest of you"

"It is." Buffy agreed. "You want her Mr MaClay? You can go ahead and take her"

"Buffy," Joyce said in shock, not believing what her daughter was agreeing with, but Buffy wasn't finished as she turned to Tara's Dad with her hands on her hips.

"You just gotta go through me"

"What?" Mr MaClay asked in shock.

"You heard me," Buffy told him, her stance making her look very threatening as she gave him a steely glare, "You wanna take Tara out of here against her will? You gotta go through me"

Dawn stepped away from her Mom so she was stood beside her sister, mirroring Buffy's stance.

"And me!"

"Is this a joke?" Mr MaClay asked in disbelief, "I'm not going to be threatened by two little girls"

"You don't wanna mess with us," Dawn warned him.

"She's a hair puller," Buffy informed the MaClays.

"And you're not just messing with two little girls," Giles added as he and Joyce went to stand behind the two teenagers.

"You're dealing with all of us," Xander concluded but Spike ruined the moment.

"Except me"

"Except Spike."

"I don't care what happens," Spike informed Mr MaClay with a slight nod of the head to emphasize the point.

"This is insane," Mr MaClay looked outraged, "You people have no right to interfere with Tara's affairs. We are her blood kin" He glared at them all, "Who the hell are you?"

Buffy took a second to look at her sister stood beside her, her Mom and Giles behind her, Xander and Anya stood together at the cash register and Willow and Tara holding hands beside them. She looked back to Mr MaClay before giving him an honest answer.

"We're family"

* * *

"That's to keep you from boozing it up!" Xander joked to Dawn as they all sat together at the Bronze for Tara's birthday party, as Dawn complained about having to have a blue stamp on her hand. 

"Yes, because we know how well the non-stamp attitude worked out with my other daughter," Joyce told him with a pointed look and he gulped before giving a weak smile.

"Oh please," Dawn rolled her eyes, "Only losers drink alcohol"

As _I can't take my eyes off you_ began, the group of adults all looked down at their clearly visible cups of alcoholic beverages after taking in Dawn's comment. Dawn was completely oblivious to their reactions as they all placed the cups down on the table silently

"Dance?" Giles asked, holding his hand out to Joyce and she looked at him suspiciously.

"I thought you didn't do dancing," She said.

He didn't answer, but merely held his hand out to her, silently repeating his question to ask her to dance. Smiling and accepting the offer at face value she took his hand and let him lead her onto the dance floor.

The truth was, he still didn't like to dance in large crowds and he still felt awkward but he just…wanted to dance with Joyce he guessed. Ever since Buffy had found out about Ethan's spell on her he'd become more protective of her, hating to have her out of his sight and wanting to spend as much time with her as possible. Take in every moment. He was privately ashamed of himself for being so cheesy.

"This is nice," Joyce told him as they danced to the slow song, "You should give into dance more often," She joked and he smiled, "And no more fainting spells," She added, "So you don't have to worry about having to catch me in the middle of the floor"

"What?" He asked.

"Not needed the tablets all week…no headaches, nothing," She told him, "Guess it must have been blood sugar or stress or whatever…" She trailed off as she decided not to think of all the reason why she fainted in the Magic Box, "Anyway, whatever it was, it's long gone now"

"Yeah…" Giles murmured half-heartedly knowing Joyce was very wrong. The malady was very far from gone.

Buffy was tidying up some of the discarded wrapping paper and putting it in the bin when Giles walked over to her.

"Hey," She greeted him, "Considering the MaClay incident Tara's party was a real success huh?"

"Have they found him yet?"

"Have who found what?" Buffy asked, confused and then she realized what he was talking about, "Oh, they're…Willow says they're on it, haven't quite found anything yet. He's a hard rodent-man to track"

"On it or not Buffy," Giles glanced over at Joyce was laughing during a conversation with Tara across the room, "I can't keep it from her any longer. She needs to know"

Buffy sighed in acceptance as she knew she had no right to decide whether to keep it from her Mom or not anyway. Technically no one had the right but her Mom, but the situation clearly made it difficult to ask her.

"Fine," She agreed, "I guess she does need to know, but you're not to say a word about Dawn," Giles went to say something but Buffy carried on, "I'm deadly serious. She can't know. It'd be too much"

Giles nodded, accepting the condition, though he didn't really need to be told though. He remembered the pain himself of finding out Dawn wasn't real and he didn't want to share that pain with Joyce unless he really, really had to.


	7. Fool for Love

Zigpal- thank you for claps and all. hehe. Glad you liked it. And hmm...Joyce slapping Mr MaClay? Never thought of that...interesting thought. haha. And don't worry about the ill/writing thing. I'm fine now ('bordering on chipper and tomorrow planning on being obnoxious' haha) and I like writing. I'd have done it while I was ill you know if computers were like big technological headache aggravators. hehe.

Rabidreject- thanks a lot for review. ;-)

* * *

He had intended to tell her the moment they came home from Tara's party, but with Dawn there it had made it impossible. He and Buffy had both seemed to have silently agreed that Dawn needn't know about any of it- it would only traumatize her.

So Giles had waited till the next day when Dawn was at school and Buffy was at college. He had initially been worried about not going in, wondering whether Anya would be okay on her own but she had in fact urged him to take the entire day off if he wished, giving her free run of the store. Her chipper assurances were the least assuring thing of all.

The thing was, now it was just him and Joyce in the house, he still found it impossible to talk to her. Yet another exhibition was happening at the gallery soon as she was on the phone to numerous people, looking over final papers, double checking things and then double checking again. She said she would be heading over to the gallery soon so he knew he had to tell her right away, before she left. He couldn't leave it any longer.

But she looked so happy, carefree. Sure, she was a little concerned about the latest show, but no matter how stressed it sometimes made her she was always happiest when she was doing work for the gallery. She was in her element and Giles didn't want to bring her down with the bad, bombshell-dropping news. Nevertheless he didn't really have a choice- he had to tell her.

He walked over to where she collecting things together to take with her.

"Joyce"

"Mm?" She didn't look up as she walked over to where a piece of paper with a number on it lay. She picked it up, checked the number on it before tucking it away in her jacket pocket for later.

"Joyce- I, uh, I need to talk to you"

"Can't it wait?" She asked him, "I kinda need to get going"

"Uh, w-well, I really need to talk now," He said but she just smiled at him as she walked past him, bag in hand, to the hall where her coat was hung.

"I'm sure it can wait till tonight," She told him.

"Actually, well it could…but it really shouldn't," He told her honestly.

"Well it's going to have to," She laughed slightly at his dramatic expression and words- he _could _dramatize things sometimes. "I've gotta go"

"Joyce-"

"It'll keep till tonight, won't it? I'll see you then" She went to head out the door, already late as it was.

"Joyce!" He hadn't meant his voice to come out so sharp and he saw her visibly flinch as she heard the tone of his voice and she turned around to look at him, her smile gone and her face now deadly serious. "Please…" He asked, his voice softening, "I need to talk to you"

"What is it?" Joyce asked, instantly worried.

"Just, sit down please" he asked and now sensing how serious he was, she did so and he sat down beside her on the sofa.

"What's the matter?" She asked again, "Is it Buffy? Dawn?"

Giles shook his head.

"No it's…." He sighed, this was going to be harder than he thought and he now wished he hadn't turned down Buffy's offers to help, "It's about when you collapsed in the store…a couple of weeks ago"

"What do you mean?" Joyce asked in confusion, "Everything's fine. I mean, I've got some follow-up tests tomorrow, but that's just procedure. I've been fine"

"Yes," Giles nodded, mentally preparing himself for what he had to say, "But you're not"

"What?" She was still confused but he could hear worry in her voice, "Did the doctors call or something? Did-" Giles shook his head, "Then what? What is it?"

"Ethan."

"What?" Joyce breathed. Why the hell was he bringing Ethan up?

"He's…Buffy did a trance- well, a spell to see spells, and she, erm, she saw that uh…Ethan is doing something to make you ill. We're not yet sure what or why…but he is"

"Oh..." She meant the expression to come out in a normal voice but as her own fear and worry took over her it came out more of a squeak as she covered her mouth with her hand, "Oh god…"

"But we're that is we have Willow and Tara working on it, to find him, we're going to sort it out, I promise" He assured her but she just looked over at him silently, before taking her hand away from her mouth and taking a deep breath.

"Is it going to get worse?"

"I, well, there are-"

"Is it _going_ to get worse?" She repeated.

"I don't know," He told her, knowing she wanted an honest answer, "I suppose so- that's more than likely his aim."

"But I've been _fine_," She told him, trying to convince herself and the situation more than anything.

"I know," He agreed in sympathy, his heart going out to her. "I know"

"What, erm, what," Joyce swallowed, clearly trying to act braver than she felt, "What should I do about the hospital? The, the, erm, tests they have scheduled."

"Well, medical and magickal don't normally…mix too well," Giles told her slowly, "And since we've linked this to magick now…"

Joyce nodded, taking in what he was saying but her thoughts unable to stray away from the fact that Ethan was doing this to her. She was privately ashamed to admit that after last year the thought of him still terrified her. And now that he was doing something else…it made her feel dirty. What was he trying to do? Why was he doing this to her of all people? Why at all? And they hadn't found him yet, so what was going to happen to her until they did? What could progress from a fainting spell? How ill was she going to get? How was she going to get ill? Thinking too much about it and the frightening thoughts taking over, she could no longer hold it together and she broke down. As she started crying, feeling everything fall apart she barely felt Giles put his arms around her as she lent into him, tears still falling

* * *

"It's okay to use the D-word Giles," Buffy said as they stood together, Watchers' diaries surrounding them in the magic store.

"Dead. And hence not very forthcoming"

"Why didn't the Watchers keep fuller accounts of it?" She asked, "The journals just stop"

"Well, I suppose if they're anything like me," Giles replied, "They just find the whole subject too-"

"Unseemly?" Buffy filled in with a shake of the head, "Damn, love ya but you Watchers can be such prigs sometimes."

"I was going to say painful," Giles told her carefully and the two shared a meaningful look.

"By the way," Buffy said to break what was fast becoming an awkward moment, "My Mom _cannot_ know about this…this 'mishap'. She'd completely wig- like as in uber freaked"

"You want me to keep _another_ thing from her?" Giles asked exasperated, "I have to tell you Buffy this is becoming a tad tiresome. It's very hard to keep things from your Mother"

"I know, _believe_ me" Buffy told him, "But I have total faith in your ability to lie" At his look she quickly changed her choice of words, "Ability to hide certain horrific facts that would be too harmful to my Mom's delicate nature?" She bit her lip, waiting to see whether Giles would go for it and when he nodded reluctantly she sighed a sigh of relief. "Thank you!" She then looked over to where Tara and Willow were sat at the round table, their own halo of books around them, "Speaking of- how goes the Ethan hunt?"

"Its erm…still hunting," Willow told her with a small smile, before giving in and telling Buffy the absolute truth, "We can't find him Buff- it's like he doesn't exist."

"What?" Buffy asked, worry making her words sound tense.

"But we can work on it," Tara assured her, "It's properly a blocking spell he's using…like a cloak? So no one can find him."

"Right," Buffy nodded, refusing to accept the information as anything but positive, "You can break it then?"

"Yeah," Willow told her with a smile, "We're working through it. Don't worry- we'll do it."

As Buffy nodded in relief and resumed her talk about the deaths of Slayers with Giles she didn't see the look Tara and Willow shared that showed they weren't so sure whether they could break the spell at all.

* * *

It was late on in the night and Giles, Tara and Willow will still researching on ways to break the cloaking spell. They'd tried numerous counter spells but none had work, though Giles wasn't surprised. Although he was loath to admit it- Ethan was highly adept at the Magicks, more so and so he knew it was going to take more than a few meagre counter spells to remove the cloak. If only he could figure out what deity it had used for the cloak. His first guess had been Janus, but being a chaos deity the god apparently wasn't big on hiding from the chaos and so didn't have any specific cloaking spells.

The sound of the wind chimes above the door ringing drew his attention away from the books as he turned to see Joyce walking over.

"Joyce, what are you doing here?"

"Well, erm Dawn is sleeping over at a friend's. _Again. _And Buffy's out slaying I suppose and so the house is pretty much empty…and I felt like a little company," She told him honestly as her eyes fell on Tara and Willow, "Hi girls"

"Hey"

"H-hi"

As Joyce sat down beside him, Giles couldn't help noticing how tired she looked and worried that it was probably down to more than just work.

"So what you all up to?" She asked in interest, "Nothing too scary I hope"

"Well, erm actually," Willow wondered whether to say or not, "We're, erm, we're trying to find Ethan"

"Oh," Joyce responded, looking shocked. She knew it made sense that they'd be doing that, the two girls were always kind enough to help, but it just seemed to be a painful reminder of the situation. "Oh, o-of course. Course you are"

"We're getting really close," Tara assured with a little smile, sensing Joyce's discomfort and Joyce smiled a silent thank you.

"Can I help?" She asked, "With the research I mean?" She shrugged with an apologetic smile, "I just…I'd feel kinda useless if I didn't"

As they all worked for a little while longer, Tara noticed how tired Joyce seemed to become with each passing minute. It was as if a little effort was exhausting her. Tara remembered when her Mom had died- it had been terminal cancer, so the family had known for weeks before she had passed away, even though it had still been as much of a shock as if she had died suddenly in the middle of the street. The thing was, the symptoms Joyce was giving off were similar to that of Tara's Mom's. The fainting spells the headaches, the tiredness and Tara wondering what on earth the spell was that Ethan had cast to cause these symptoms. Giles had given her and Willow the symbol Buffy had seen and along with researching an anti-cloaking spell, they had been looking for what spell had been used also. So far though, they'd found nothing. Though Tara had yet to meet Ethan, she could say one thing about him- he used powerful spells- so much that they seemed to be untraceable. Maybe there were of his own fabrication or so ancient they'd be impossible to find in the many texts, Tara didn't know, but she did hope they would figure it out soon.

After having been lost in one particularly thick tome for a while, Tara looked up from the book to across the table where Joyce was sat. Exhaustion having taken over she had fallen asleep at the desk. Tara nudged Willow and she saw the same thing.

"Giles," Willow called gently and Giles came out of the back room.

"What?"

"She's erm fallen asleep," Willow told him.

"I think she was really tired when she came over," Tara added helpfully, "Just needs some rest,"

"Yes, I uh, I suppose you're right," Giles agreed, walking over to her, though he sounded unconvinced. "I'd better, erm, take her home. Willow could you, uh, could you get the door for me?"

"What? Erm, yeah sure," Willow answered, heading towards the front door, wondering why he'd asked her to, until she saw him lift Joyce up and carry her out so he didn't have to wake her.

It was only then that Willow realized how really bad things could become.

* * *

"Hey, I'm home," Buffy called out as she stepped into her house after her night with Spike. What he had told her had been disturbing- his words connecting to her on some level- but what he had tried to do was even more so. Kiss her? Who did he think he was? And what the hell did he think he was doing? Buffy shook the gruesome thought aside as she saw Giles walk into the hall, "Hi,"

"Hello"

"Where's Mom?" Buffy asked, craning her neck to see if she was in the nearby rooms.

"Erm, she's asleep, upstairs." Giles told her, "She was uh, she was very tired"

There was a moment of silence, as the two of them understood what was to be read between the lines. "So, how was your talk with Spike?" Giles asked, searching for a change of subject.

"Oh erm, you know…Spikeish" Buffy said, feeling uncomfortable talking about what had gone on. The words he had said _Every Slayer has a death wish, even you_, they just came at her, reached her, and she did not want to share that. With anyone. She wasn't even sure she wanted to share it with herself. "you know- nothing helpful"

Giles nodded in understanding.

"So are Willow and Tara any closer to…you know…finding Ethan?"

"Yes, erm pretty close," Giles told her though inside he knew it was a lie- when he had left with Joyce they hadn't been any closer to find anything out than they had been two days ago, the case seemed to get more hopeless with every passing day, but he couldn't tell Buffy that, "I think they're near to figuring it all out"

"Good, erm, good." Buffy nodded distractedly, clearly unconvinced by his words as she walked past him and by the sound of the back door opening, went to sit on the back porch.

* * *

"We should really flick another light on," Tara suggested, "It's getting as dark in as it is out,"

She and Willow were still in the Magic Box, still researching. Since Giles left with Joyce, Willow had become even more determined to find something. Either the origin of the spell that had been cast or the location of Ethan. Spell after spell after spell had been found and cast or found and cast aside. Willow seemed to be close to something and Tara had utter faith in her.

"Yeah, in a min," Willow agreed, not looking up from her book. Tara smiled slightly at her, although it was unseen by Willow, before getting up to flick some of the store lights on. As she looked over in Willow's direction she saw her girlfriend suddenly stop flicking the pages as something caught her interest, "Oh my god"

"What?" Tara asked, walking back over to the table as Willow looked up from her book, a familiar look of excitement on her face.

"Oh my god, that's it" And Willow jumped up heading over to the shelves where she could collect the ingredients she needed for the spell.

* * *

As Buffy went out onto the porch, obviously needed some time alone, Giles headed up the stairs to his and Joyce's room. He paused at the doorway, just looking in watching her sleep. If what she was doing could be called any form of rest. Her sleep was clearly a fitful one and Giles didn't know whether it was through nightmares or the pain of whatever Ethan was doing. If he ever got his hands on him, which he planned to, he was going to kill the bastard. Actually, first he would have Buffy release some slayer strong rage on him- he knew she'd been dying to for a long while- _then_ he was going to kill him. Share; share that's fair wasn't it?

The sound of the phone ringing drew him out of his thoughts and he turned away from watching Joyce to walk downstairs and answer the phone in the living room.

"Yes, hello?"

"Giles?" It was Willow's voice.

"Yes, Willow, what is it?"

"We've found him."

"What?" Giles couldn't believe his ears.

"Ethan. We found him. We broke through the cloaking." She explained, "He's not far from here. But erm, Giles?"

"Yes"

"He's definitely heading towards Sunnydale"


	8. Shadow

g120-thanks for review and thanks for the well wishes. I'm much better now. hehe. glad you're lovin, readin and reviewin- that's what I like to hear. haha. And yes, .::nods::. life is a bitca on the hellmouth. ;-)

zigpal-yay- claps! it's like a _drug_! haha. And you're really not a Riley fan are you? Haha. I'd hardly noticed that I rarely put him in this fic...it's just he doesn't seem to fit...I don't think he's in this chapter either so...lucky you! haha

rabidreject-thanks for review and yeah, I hated that Ethan just disappeared after A New Man. I thought he was a class character. Really used to make me chuckle some of the stuff he said as well. I'll probs continue trying to keep bringing him back in hehe.

* * *

Sunnydale was not a place Ethan favored and in return Sunnydale didn't seem to favor him. He had originally seen it as an ideal place to set up, not that he'd ever been one to stay in one place for too long, but the Hellmouth was just too good an opportunity to pass up. Ripper living there was just an added bonus. Or so he'd thought so originally.

Halloween might have been the first sign that maybe he should just pack up and leave, but he'd stayed around. Got caught by the little blonde Slayer in the library as well. Would have escaped that time if it hadn't been for the Slayer's friend- the brunette. Cordelia or something. She had a sharp kick.

His biggest mistake though, he had to admit had been last year. When he'd gone for drinks with Ripper of all things. Sure, he'd spiked his drink to turn him into a Fyarl, but he doubted that would have caused _too_ much trouble. Amusement maybe, but trouble? Not for him anyway. But then he'd pushed too far again hadn't he? With the mother of the Slayer. That had gone too far for him as well. Which was an odd thing to think- he never used to bother, was convinced he still didn't. Maybe the Giles vibe rubbed off on you if you stayed in Sunnydale too long, which was why, for once, he was going to make this visit as short as possible.

He didn't want to go at all really, his Sunnydale luck, not being the best in the world, but he had to. Considering the events of last year he only had himself to blame. Himself and those bloody monks.

He knew the spell he had cast wouldn't hold up for much longer, which was one of the reasons he was speeding. He just hoped the spell would hold up long enough. He lifted a hand off the steering wheel as he felt the warning pains of a headache beginning and he massaged his temple with his right hand, willing it to go away, but it wasn't listening. It wouldn't go away until it was good and ready.

* * *

"Your one spot stop to shop for all your occult needs," Tara read from the advertisement in the yellow pages as she stood behind the shop counter next to Giles and Joyce, "Catchy"

"You think so?" Giles asked, pleased.

"Yeah," She nodded, "In a hard to read sort of way" She added before walking away.

Joyce smirked as Giles silent read the slogan to himself.

"It's fine," She assured him, reaching across him to put her coffee cup down on the counter. As she pulled back she went to give him a light kiss but was prevented by a wave of dizziness.

"Joyce?"

"And that's fine too," She told him with more confidence than she felt, "Either way it'll be fixed soon right? I mean you've, uh, you've _found_ Ethan?"

"Well, yes" Giles admitted. After the call from Willow and Tara he had updated Buffy immediately and the two of them had told Joyce in the morning and the news had been met with a mixture of anxiety and relief. Followed shortly after by an order that Dawn was not to know anything. Buffy had readily agreed, having thought the exact same thing. Giles had eventually agreed, but not without some exasperation. Why did the Summers women keep so many things from another? It's a wonder _they_ were able to keep up, never mind anyone else.

Any kind of reply from him was cut off by the sound of Anya, Xander and Willow walking into the store chattering away. Noticing he still wore a concerned look on his face though, Joyce gave him a light kiss before walking around to the other side of the counter where her bag lay on the far table.

"Am I right, Giles?" Xander asked as he and his two girls walked over.

"I'm almost certain you're not," Giles replied, "But to be fair I wasn't listening"

"Oh the new phone book's in with Mr Giles' ad," Tara told everyone in attempt to wipe the look of disapproval off Xander's face. Anya was immediately overcome with excitement.

"Yay! Am I mentioned?" When Giles told her 'no', she immediately lost her excitement

"Okay we were supposed to hook up with Riley this morning," Xander explained, "to take on a nest of vamps holed up in a tomb. So we get there, and guess what? Tell him Will"

"Tomb go boom," Willow said simply.

"Yep," Xander nodded in agreement, his tone sarcastic, "Captain America blowed it up real good. All by his lone wolf lonesome"

"Well, that was rather reckless of him." Giles commented.

"Was, uh, Buffy not with him?" Joyce asked, walking back over to the group, "Or you?"

"No," Xander shook his head, "She had some college stuff to see to. Plus it was the nest that had the vamp that got her last week. So Riley didn't want her anywhere near them till they were gone…." He trailed off as he saw the look of confusion on Joyce's face.

"What vampire 'got her'? Somebody got Buffy?"

Giles rolled his eyes and walked off in the other direction. Xander was the one who had blabbed so he would be the one to explain it all.

"Well, not _got_ exactly more like brushed with…" Xander tried to explain nervously.

"What happened?" Joyce was now looking around at everyone, since it was clear they all knew, "Did something happen to Buffy last week? Why don't I know?"

"Well, it was nothing big really," Willow excused it all, "Just a little Slayer thing. Pfft. Not even worth discussing"

"Yes," Anya agreed readily, "Buffy just got impaled with her own stake by a vampire, but she's fine so it's really nothing"

"Buffy got what with what by who?" Joyce asked, not believing what she was hearing.

Willow and Xander both laughed nervously, throwing evil looks in the direction of an oblivious Anya.

"Seriously, it was nothing," Xander repeated his assurances to Joyce, "She's fine. Was fine. Is fine. All tenses of fine"

"That's what they were doing in her room…" Joyce said in realization as her mind flicked back to the memory of seeing Buffy, Riley and Dawn in Buffy's room, the alcohol on the side. If she'd paid more attention she would have noticed, the cotton buds, the left over bandages poking out from Riley's closed hand and the slight speck of blood on Buffy's top.

And she thought her days of being naïve and oblivious to Buffy's slaying outings were long past.

"Why did no one tell me?" She asked, "I think I have a right to know."

"I know," Xander agreed, "But Buffy didn't wanna worry you. She said you had enough on your demon plate." Xander paused for a moment, "And I think she's right."

"Yeah…" Willow agreed, looking at Joyce in concern. She wished they'd all stop doing that. It made her feel like some kind of invalid and she just wasn't. She knew though that it was just because they cared, which was nice to know. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine," It's all Joyce ever seemed to say lately, "Bordering on chipper and tomorrow planning on being obnoxious" She put on a brave smile that seemed to convince the others but didn't really convince herself. She felt absolutely awful, but she refused to give in. She just refused to.

* * *

Another thing he hated about Sunnydale. The accommodation. Since the small southern Californian town was on a Hellmouth, all but the residents had tuned in to the negative vibe it gave off. Unlike the oblivious and naïve Sunnydalians, outsiders heard of the bad news and events that occurred there and stayed well away. So, tourism wasn't a major source of income for the town. And so the few hotels there were, weren't paid much attention to, which was why Ethan had ended up in the same crappy motel as last time.

He was feeling absolutely awful though and actually felt as though he wanted to throw up so he was merely grateful for the fact the room had a bed and a bathroom. He had a feeling his nausea and sickness had a bit to do with the fact that he was going to have to see Ripper and all the mini-slayers again, not to mention the Slayer herself. He really didn't want to; as he knew the moment they set eyes on him he was in for a major ass kicking. However he really had no choice unfortunately. He was going to have to face the music and pray to God that Ripper wouldn't let the Slayer kill him, or kill him himself for that matter.

* * *

Dawn would be finishing school soon, Joyce noted as she glanced at her watch. They were all still gathered in the Magic Box and were so often now that Dawn, when she wasn't picked up by Joyce, nearly always got her friend's parents to drop her off at the Magic Box first rather than home. Not that Dawn ever complained of course. For years she'd mithered to be able to go to the magic store and now she had an official excuse to drop by everyday. Though through the combined forces of Joyce, Buffy and Giles it was made sure that Dawn never actually got to buy any of the items.

They were researching at the moment, as they had been the past few weeks, into whatever the woman was that had attacked Buffy. Joyce, understandably was terrible worried about this. In all her years of knowing Buffy to be the Slayer, her daughter had never once lost out on a fight, but this super strong demon woman had had Buffy running away and that just wasn't Buffy. And that thought alone terrified Joyce. Which was why she was uncomfortable about the fact that the research was being split between demon woman and Ethan's spell.

"Okay," Xander stated, "Does this woman have _no_ history?" He slammed his book closed, "I thought Evil liked to brag to authors about what they'd done. Kinda like sportsman only…eviller."

"Maybe we'd find something sooner if we just focused on researching her…"Joyce suggested but the idea was immediately shot down by her daughter.

"No, we can research both. It's fine. We're good at research and I'm not forgetting about Ethan, I refuse to"

"But this…"

"Cordelia demon?" Buffy filled in with a little chipper smile.

"Yes…" Joyce agreed reluctantly, "She just seems so powerful and the fact that you might…well, probably, will have to face her again _terrifies_ me. I don't want you being unprepared for her, because you spent too much time researching my problem. I can hold up for now"

"No" Both Buffy and Giles said in synchronization, causing Joyce to start a little, especially since Giles was at the cash register serving a customer when he made his protest. The customer jumped back a little also and he apologized.

"We can do both" Buffy told her calmly.

"But-" Joyce began as she stood up to get something, but she stopped talking as she felt woozy again, the world spinning slightly but not in a fun ride kind of way.

* * *

Ethan cursed as he felt the wave of dizziness overcoming him again and he reached forward to the bedside table for support as he stumbled over.

* * *

"Whoa!" Xander, who had been sat next to Joyce, exclaimed standing up quickly to grab a hold of Joyce's shoulders so she didn't sway and fall over completely. "Are you okay?" He asked the dumb yet normal question as he helped her steady herself back on her feet.

"Mmm…" She murmured massaging her head with her fingers, willing the pain to go away. Eventually it started to subside and she felt better.

"_That's_ why we're splitting the research," Buffy pointed out and her Mother threw her an un-amused look, but let Xander sit her back down anyway.

"Fine," She agreed reluctantly, "But if this goes all horribly wrong you're in a world of trouble."

"Check," Buffy nodded, smiling at her mother's brave humor, "Avoid the trouble world. I'll be right back guys. Little Girl's room's a calling"

"Can I come?" Xander smiled but Buffy just rolled her eyes at him before walking out of the room. Anya on the other hand gave him a look of silent disapproval before hitting him on the arm, "Ow" He complained, "I was joking"

"Well joke about something else," She ordered him. Xander was going to go for a witty retort but the sound of Joyce's cell ringing, broke his train of thought.

"I'll be erm right back too," Joyce, told them, picking up the phone and walking off as she pressed the answer button, automatically opting for some form of privacy for the call, "Hello?"

"Maybe she's not in the books," Tara thought aloud.

"What do you mean?" Willow asked.

"I mean what if she's not a demon or a sorceress or a spirit or whatever these books cover?" Tara explained and Willow nodded in understanding.

"Oh I see. I'm on Ethan duty you see so you had me a little confused there"

"Something new you mean?" Giles asked, walking over to the table after finishing dealing with a customer. Tara shook her head 'no'.

"Something old. So old it pre-dates written word."

"Giles," Willow said, a thought forming, "The Dagon Sphere, you said it was created to repel…"

"That which cannot be named," Giles finished in realization, fearing that the woman Buffy faced was a lot worse than any of them had imagined.

"So I'm thinking maybe she…" Willow carried on Tara's original thought and Giles finished it.

"Predates language itself"

"Well hey," Xander said, "Does that mean I don't have to read anymore? Woo!" He then paused as he seemed to realize something, "No- I'm now on the Joyce and Ethan sitch. Never mind…no woo for me." He looked at them all with a quirky grin, "Possibly a hoo if I find something though"

"Darn toot'n" Willow agreed. However, when Giles spoke he was a lot more solemn than the other two.

"If Tara's right then we're blind. There's…there's no way we can determine…her moves…her habits…where she'll turn up next…" His thought pattern was broke by someone tapping him on the shoulder and he turned around to see a petite yet evidently confident blonde woman holding a pile of items up that she wanted to buy, "Oh I beg your-"

"Uh huh" She cut him off impatiently, "I want these"

"Okay, thank you for your time. Bye." Joyce terminated the call on her cell just as Buffy came out of the bathroom and almost walked into her.

"Oh sorry Mom."

"It's, erm, it's okay honey" Joyce told her distractedly and Buffy picked up on it.

"Who was that?" She asked.

"Hmm?"

Buffy pointed at the phone to illustrate what she meant.

"Oh, it was the hospital again," Joyce, explained, "They keep calling at home, work, on my cell…"

"What do they want?"

"They're insisting I come in for observation," Joyce explained grimly, "Because of the…well, you know" Buffy nodded in understanding, but frowned at the word 'observation'.

"What do you mean 'observation'? They gonna have you like running on a treadmill or something while they time you?" Buffy joked, attempting to keep the mood light.

"Oh you know…CAT scans…that sort of thing " Joyce tried to make the whole thing seem casual and unimportant for Buffy's sake, but she didn't fall for it.

"_CAT scans_? W-what, why, why do they think you need a CAT scan?"

"It's just doctor talk sweetheart," Joyce assured her, giving her a little hug, "We've already found what it is haven't we?" Buffy nodded silently, "So we will sort it out. No CAT scans. No worry. Okay?" Buffy didn't answer, "_Okay_?"

"Okay," Buffy grumbled in acceptance. She knew she should think positively. She always did in everything else in her life. If she didn't after all, it could get her killed. But when it came to her Mom- it was too personal, too low a blow on Ethan's part, and she couldn't help but worry.

"Hey!" Both Joyce and Buffy jumped, as did everyone else as they heard Anya and Willow exclaim in unison. Willow at the table and Anya at the cash register. The rest of the group looked from one to the other, wondering which to see to first.

"_Hey_!" Anya repeated the pitch higher and Willow rubbed her ears as though it hurt.

"Ow!" She complained pointing in Anya's direction, "Go to her! Go to her!"

"Anya, your heys are startling the customers," Giles warned her.

"And pretty much the state," Xander added, wincing at his girlfriend heying again.

"You sold someone a Khul's amulet and a Sobekian bloodstone." She told him, pointing at the receipt in her hands.

"Yes I believe I did," Giles agreed, examining the receipt himself.

"Does, does that mean something?" Joyce looked around at the others but saw they were as confused by Anya's protests as she was.

"Are you stupid or something?" Anya asked Giles in exasperation.

"Hey!" This time it was Joyce's turn to hey.

"Allow me to answer that question with a firing," Giles began but Xander jumped in to defend Anya.

"She's kidding!" He turned to his girlfriend, "An, we talked about the employer-employee vocabulary no-nos. That was number five"

Anya ignored Xander as she grabbed the receipt back from Giles.

"You never sell these things together, ever! Bad news! Don't you know about the Sobekites?"

"Oh I do!" Willow exclaimed.

"Well, at least one of us does," Joyce, commented quietly, feeling more confused by the second.

"It was an Ancient Egyptian cult," Willow explained to everyone at the same time as proving her knowledge to Anya, "heavy into dark magick"

"And the Khul's amulet," Tara continued, "Wasn't that a transmogrification conduit?"

"Damn straight!" Anya agreed

"Be that as it may," Giles said patiently, "I still see no reason for concern. I mean the Sobekian transmogrification spells were lost thousands of years ago. And besides the young woman to whom I sold them would have had to have enormous power-" Giles stopped talking as something clicked.

"Young woman?" Buffy repeated, "YOUNG WOMAN?"

"Well, I, erm-"

"Demon girl was _here_? While I was here? And you sold her transmoggy thingies?! Giles!"

"I-I-I didn't know it was her!" Giles stuttered, "I mean how could I?" He looked at the receipt again, "If it's any consolation, I may have over charged her"

Buffy just rolled her eyes and looked to Anya.

"What does this spell do?"

"Well, generally? It makes a monster"

"And the Sobekites were reptile worshippers," Willow added, "So it's probably something reptilian like a python or something…"

"Great," Buffy said sarcastically, "Just what I need. A glorified snake." She started to walk off.

"Buffy, where are you going?" Her Mom asked.

"I'm going off to kill this thing. She wants something reptilian? She'll be at the zoo- reptile house"

"Buffy you can't" Joyce protested, fearing for her daughter. She worried every time her daughter went slaying, went on patrol, went to fight the latest evil in Sunnydale, but that was just natural worry. Deep down she always had a confidence that her daughter would return. She was strong, resilient and would return home safe. But for the first time in a long while Joyce feared that if Buffy went to face this woman again she _wouldn't_ return.

"I have to go Mom, I'm sorry" Buffy's words revealed to Joyce that maybe her daughter was thinking the same thing. Sorry seemed so final.

"Buffy, your Mom's right," Xander agreed, "I mean this chick creamed you last time"

"That's because I wasn't ready for her," Buffy protested, "I am now"

"How?" Joyce challenged, "_How_ are you ready? Really?"

Buffy was silent, having no answer. Deep down she knew there was truth to what her Mom said. She wasn't ready. She didn't think she'd ever be ready for this woman. The thought had crossed her mind that she would fail- that this demon chick would be her last battle. But that didn't mean that she shouldn't try.

"I'm the Slayer," Buffy said in final answer, "I have to go"

"Rupert…" Joyce turned to Giles, pleading for him to help, to make Buffy stay.

"Buffy, I-" He began but Buffy stopped him.

"No, Giles. You know I have to go." And before any of them could protest anymore she walked out of the shop door.

"Well that was great non-success of a confrontation," Xander commented, "I've never seen Buffy so determined"

"Beginning of junior year," Willow said, having watched the entire thing, "Shortly after the Master…." She cast a nervous glance in Joyce's direction, wary of what she was saying, "After he…you know"

There was a silence again.

"So Will," Xander said cheerfully, clasping his hands together, "I believe you had a hey for us too"

"Ooh, ooh! Yeah, I do!" Willow exclaimed, suddenly remembering as she led the group back over to the table.

"What have you found?" Giles asked.

"I have come across an enlightening yet," She frowned in slight puzzlement as she picked up the book she had been reading, "also confusing conclusion" She took a deep breath before carrying on, "I've found the spell that Ethan is using on Joyce." She didn't give anyone time to comment on this revelation as she continued talking, "We've all been looking through malevolent charms for the symbol, but that's why we weren't finding anything?"

"Huh?" Joyce asked with a confused frown at the same time Giles asked "Pardon?"

"So you're saying making Joyce ill isn't all malevolenty?" Xander questioned, "Will, I think you've been reading too long- it's sending you a little-"

"I'm not crazy!" Willow protested, "And I'm not rambling. The symbol that Buffy saw is one for a _benevolent_ spell, not a bad one"

"Are you sure?" Giles asked taking his glasses off and wiping them clean, looking completely perplexed by the whole situation.

"Yeah, I thought it was weird too," Willow told him honestly, "But I checked and checked, and it's definitely right. It's called Tutela of reus"

"Protection of the bound…" Giles translated, becoming even more confused as he took in the context of the entire thing. Why the hell had Ethan cast a spell such as that on Joyce? And why was it having such a terrible effect on her?

"Yeah," Willow nodded, "I don't get what it all means or why or whatever really…but one thing is for sure- the spell on Joyce is a protection spell"

"How can that-" All questions were cut off as they heard the front door opening and Dawn walked into the store. Willow quickly slid the book away, knowing Dawn was not supposed to know anything of the situation.

"Figured you'd all be here, instead of at home like normal people," Dawn commented, looking around at everyone as she walked over. "Where's Buffy?"

"Oh, she's erm out slaying some demon thing…" Joyce struggled to explain as she wasn't even sure what it was that Buffy was going to have to fight.

"That Giles helped create," Anya added helpfully.

"What?" Dawn, asked eyes wide as she turned to Giles, "Way to go!" She told him sarcastically.

"I-I didn't make it!" Giles argued before becoming embarrassed and mumbling, "But I erm…may have sold…the erm, items required to the erm…woman Buffy faced, uh last week…"

"May?" Anya questioned, "How about 'did'?"

"Anya…" Xander said warningly, "Remember what we talked about?"

Anya nodded and became sullenly silent.

* * *

"Hey guys," Buffy called as she walked back into the store later on. The pain making her unable to hide the newly developed limp from what the demon thing had called Glory.

"Buffy, oh my god, what happened?" Her Mother asked running over.

"Glory- that's what I heard them call the demon woman…thing- she created a snake demon and kicked my ass in the intervals"

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Willow asked, running over along with everyone else.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just pride mostly."

"Hurt pride isn't this visible Buffy," Joyce countered, "What on earth…you could have been seriously-"

"I know Mom," Buffy said calmly, "But I'm okay"

"Did you manage to get the demon she created?" Giles asked and Buffy shook her head.

"No, she'd sent it off somewhere before I could even get up again," Buffy shook her head again as though ashamed of herself, "I don't even know where it went"

Suddenly the front windows smashed and everyone ducked slightly to avoid the shower of shards of glass. Through the now open window came what can only be described as a giant snake.

"I think we know where it went" Xander commented, unable to hide a gulp.

The snake knocked over case after case and shelf after shelf as it slithered towards them and Buffy got into a stance, ready to fight it when the snake laid it's glowing red eyes on Dawn. Dawn screamed and carried on screaming. Buffy ran towards it but before she could even reach it, it hissed and reared before turning around and slithering away out of the store

"Dawn, are you okay?" Joyce asked and Dawn nodded weakly.

"Why was the big snake afraid of Dawn?" Willow asked everybody in confusion, which was when it all clicked for Buffy. She turned to Giles.

"Giles, it knows," She whispered, panic in her eyes and the two of them instantly ran out of the store.

"Knows what?" Joyce asked everyone left in the store, but they all seemed as clueless as she was. She shrugged, believing it would no doubt be explained later as she tended to a terrified and shaken-up Dawn.

* * *

"So we caught up with it eventually and I killed it before it could get back to Glory," Buffy finished retelling her slay-tale as she, Dawn, Giles and her Mom drove home. "Ripped to pieces"

"Literally in this case," Giles informed them all with a grim expression.

"Okay…so I went all out…" Buffy admitted in embarrassment, "But it was a big snake…so to make sure it wasn't going to get up any time soon I took some…gut-wrenching precautions"

"Thank you for the lovely visual…" Joyce commented sarcastically, before wincing in pain.

"Mom?" Buffy asked concerned.

"It's erm…" Joyce caught a glimpse of Dawn's worried face and changed her words mid-explanation, "It's nothing…just a headache"

"So who's hungry?" Dawn suddenly asked.

"After what Buffy just said and you're still thinking about food?" Joyce asked in disbelief, relieved that her daughter had automatically gone for a complete change in subject.

"Yeah," Dawn rolled her eyes as though she couldn't believe her Mom would think otherwise, "so coz of like the whole demon thing can we get take-out?" She asked as they pulled up in the driveway.

"Dawn if that was the case we'd have take-out every night" Joyce pointed out and as Dawn went to say something Giles interrupted as they got out of the car.

"Which is _never _going to happen"

"Why not?" Dawn whined, "Some take-outs have nutritional value"

"Yes," Giles agreed as though he were really contemplating Dawn's point, "All those chicken's feet pulverised into a burger form. Full of daily requirement of omega3."

"At this point you're abusing sarcasm," Dawn told him.

"Well, look at the family unit here, Ripper"

The group looked over in the direction of the annoyingly familiar voice and saw Ethan on their doorstep.


	9. Listening to Fear

Zigpal- Thanken you. ;-). Glad you liked it. And well...Ethan does get slapped about a bit (as per norm) but well...you'll see why he turned up at Revello Drive. And you just hate Riley with a fiery passion? That's all then? hehe.

rabidreject- 'Excellent as usual'? I like the way you phrase that :-D. haha. And glad you liked the twist and well...it all becomes, erm, untwisted in this chapter...hehe. Hope you like.

* * *

A/N: Well, I gave myself a creative pat on the back the other day as I actually have this fiction planned out chapter by chapter all the way to Tabula Rasa. So unless Joyce or Giles decide to give me a bit of a turn and surprise me (Or Ethan decides he'd like to turn up for an unexpected visit) I know exactly where I'm going with all of this so I say bravo for me. Haha.

* * *

"Well, look at the family unit here, Ripper"

The group looked over in the direction of the annoyingly familiar voice and saw Ethan on their doorstep.

"Ethan" Buffy stated, her tone of voice making the monosyllabic name instantly sound like a threat.

"You've got some nerve coming here," Giles told him.

"A lot of stupid nerve" Buffy added perkily before she and Giles headed for him, talking to him not being high on their list of priorities.

"Mom, what's he doing here?" The sound of Dawn's voice stopped the two of them and they turned around to see Dawn looking very worried as her Mom had her arms around her. Joyce looked just as scared, but seemed at the same time, to be putting on a brave face for the sake of her youngest.

The two then remembered that Dawn hadn't a clue what was going on, as she hadn't been told anything. And she was going to stay knowing nothing for her own sake.

"Dawn," Buffy began calmly, "Why don't you erm go up to bed while we all…. talk?" The way she said the word 'talk' showed that they were going to do anything but.

"No, I-" Dawn began to protest but Buffy stopped her with a glare.

"_Now_"

"Fine," Dawn said, rolling her eyes and stomping away from her Mom, past Giles, Buffy and Ethan, through the front door and up the stairs to her room without looking back once.

"Get inside," Buffy told Ethan angrily, "I'm not dealing with you on the front lawn"

Ethan immediately walked inside the house without question and Buffy followed, not taking her eyes off him once.

"Rupert,"

Giles turned around to see Joyce still stood beside the car where she had been holding Dawn. He walked over to her and she instantly took his hand.

"Are you okay?" He asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, yeah- I'll be fine," She looked up at him, "Let's just get this over with"

* * *

"Ow!"

Joyce and Giles walked into the living room just in time to see Buffy floor Ethan with one punch.

"Now _that_ I'd like to see again," Joyce commented as she still held onto Giles and Buffy smiled at her, a fist already forming.

"Oh it can be arranged."

"Whoa- hey!" Ethan held up his hands, palms facing Buffy, in surrender, "Before you start hitting me…even _more_, why don't you listen to what I have to say?"

"Yes, because that worked out so well last time," Giles said sarcastically.

"What have you done to my Mother?" Buffy asked straightforwardly.

"Wait," Ethan frowned, "You think _I'm_ making her ill? I'm the only one stopping it from being worse than it is"

This statement was met with momentary silence.

"Huh?" All three asked with confused frowns.

* * *

"Um…moose getting a sponge bath" Tara pointed out another made up constellation as she lay on her back outside, next to Willow, "and erm…little pile of crackers," She saw Willow give her a look and she smiled, "Okay that one was a bit of a stretch," The two laughed. "Now you do it," She pointed out a cluster of stars in the sky, "What would you call that one?"

"Hmm…let's see…" Willow pondered aloud, but a huge big flaming sight disrupted her calm thoughts, "I'd call it a huge, big flaming meteor about to crash into something!"

* * *

"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked throwing a brief look of concern in her Mother's direction when she saw that she was getting another headache. Giles took her to the sofa where they both sat down.

"Something's been playing with her head," Ethan explained, "All of your heads in fact."

"What has?" Giles asked and Ethan pointed at the stairs, in the direction Dawn had just headed.

"That."

"What?" Joyce asked, shoving all thoughts of her headache aside, "Dawn? Did you just call Dawn a 'that'? How dare you-"

"She doesn't know does she?" Ethan asked the other two, hoping that they knew at least.

"But how do you know?" Giles countered, not actually answering Ethan's question.

"Know _what?_" Joyce asked them all in exasperation. Buffy and Giles looked at each other sombrely knowing they had no choice but to explain it all to her now.

"Mom, there's something we have to tell you about Dawn…"

* * *

"Buffy, we'd love to take Dawn, you know that," Xander explained over the phone ignoring Anya's mutterings of 'no we wouldn't' "But we think we may have a hell beastie to look at. I know you and Giles are pretty much unable to come because of well…everything, but I don't think you'd be too happy with Dawn tagging along"

"No…" Buffy answered honestly, "But what am I supposed to do? I mean we're talking about some…well sensitive stuff that I _really_ don't want Dawn to hear"

"Can't she stay over at a friend's?" Xander suggested, "I mean she's always sleeping over at that Janice's isn't she? Try her."

"Actually that's not a bad idea," Buffy admitted, "Thanks Xander. I'll go call her Mom."

"Okay, and Buffy?"

"Yeah"

"Kick Ethan's ass"

"That's the plan," Buffy told him, before hanging up and calling Janice's Mom.

Luckily everything was good to go there and Buffy was soon telling Dawn to pack her sleeping kit. She made a mental note to send the Thacker family a gift basket.

Walking back into the living room, Buffy came in to see her Mother was still in a state of shock from what she and Giles had told her.

"Dawn…" Joyce whispered clearly going all of the most prominent memories of Dawn in her head. Buffy knew she was doing this because when she found out, she had done the exact same thing.

"I know how this a shock," Giles told her, "It was for us-"

"I knew" Joyce suddenly said quietly, interrupting Giles.

"What?"

"I knew," She repeated.

"Mom, what do you mean you knew?" Buffy asked, sitting next to her Mom.

"Not knew, knew perhaps but on some level…I think I knew" She looked at both of them on either side of before carrying on talking, her eyes on the floor, "When I blanked out on her in the Magic Box…" She looked at Buffy, "And sometimes I _really_ didn't remember you and Dawn fighting in the past like you do now…because I think on some level…I knew…"

"Still doesn't explain how _you_ know," Buffy said turning to look at Ethan who was now sat in a chair, but looking anything but comfy.

"Yes," Giles agreed, "You should be effected by the spell like the rest of us"

"Oh I have the memories alright," Ethan admitted, "But there's one difference between me and all of you"

"We have a soul?" Buffy suggested and he threw her a look of disdain

"I won't willingly be manipulated," Ethan carried on, "To be fully effected by the spell you have to be willing to see 'Dawn' as a teenage girl. I'm not. There was a time when you wouldn't have been either Ripper. You would have seen her as I do now. Glowing, green, energy"

Joyce started a little as her mind flicked back to her dream from months ago, last May where Ethan had said the exact same words. That's what Dawn was? Glowing, green energy? No, no matter what, she was still Dawn. She was still her little girl.

"How _dare_ you talk about Dawn like that," Joyce told him angrily, "Like a…like a _thing_. She's just a little girl"

"_Now_" Ethan admitted, "But she wasn't always…"

"Ethan, get to the point," Buffy told him, "What has this got to do with my Mom and why _you_ apparently did some protection spell thing…"

"I'd like to know that myself," Giles added. Ethan leaned forward in his seat as he went into his explanation.

"The spell that was cast to create Dawn was _very _powerful. To manipulate your memories, your lives and not just you, but essentially the entire world. Anyone who ever came into contact with you had their memories altered."

"Her friends…the school…" Joyce whispered, everything still sinking in.

"Exactly," Ethan nodded, "It had many complications for it to be successful. It took enormous magickal energy to create new memories and block the originals" He pointed out Joyce, "_She's_ the only one fighting it"

"_What_?" Joyce asked as interest and confusion overtook her headache and her fears, "What d'you mean?"

"Maybe not on the same level, but like me, you're not accepting it"

"I'm nothing like you" Joyce argued coldly.

"True," Ethan smiled, "Either way your subconscious self is refusing to accept these memories that have been created of 'Dawn'." He shrugged, before looking at Giles, "You probably have some great profound theory about this. A mother bond perhaps? Deep down she knows she didn't give birth to her?" The look on Giles' face showed Ethan that's exactly what his theory was. "Thought so. Personally, I think it's all to do with her. Her energy"

"Still here," Joyce said in complaint of the fact he was talking as though she wasn't.

"Energy?" Buffy asked sceptically, "Her energy?"

"What? You thought I made that all up last year?" He asked her before looking at Giles, "She's strong and you know that Ripper" He sighed and leaned back in his chair. Clearly more comfortable now that he was confident he wasn't going to have his head kicked in. "And her fighting it is what's creating all this" He grinned, clearly pleased with his own deductions and Joyce recognized it as the same smile that had initially appealed to her last year.

"And what is…'this' exactly?" Buffy asked, since Giles seemed to be stuck in silence for the past few minutes.

"I'm not sure exactly," Ethan said, answering honestly for once, "But I suspect if you took her to a doctors they'd have some scientific explanation. A brain tumor more than likely" He said the devastating information with such casualness that Buffy couldn't believe how truly heartless he could be as she felt her Mother silently break down. Buffy tried to keep herself together. Her Mom had a brain tumor? Worse still, _Dawn_ was the cause of it?

"Oh god…" She heard her Mom murmur. Joyce leant into Giles and he put his arms around her, seeming in control of the situation but Buffy saw the briefest look in his eyes that showed he was very far from in control and was as close to breaking down as her and her Mom. Buffy decided to channel her upset through anger. At Ethan.

"So the hospital could fix this?" She asked him, "The doctors could fix it- so why the hell are you here? Why are you even involved?"

"Well, not exactly," Ethan smiled slightly as he answered, but it wavered when he saw Buffy and Giles both glaring at him, "Well, what I mean is, they could operate on the tumor, but she'll just begin fighting the spell again. Even though she knows the truth now- she'd _still_ be refusing to accept the manipulations"

"I _accept_ Dawn," Joyce told him, "She's my daughter"

"Be that as it may," Ethan accepted, "Your subconscious isn't too keen on the concept and it'd carry on fighting. And the symptoms will reform. Perhaps as another tumor or maybe even a more fatal aneurysm"

Giles momentarily thought back to the dream he had in which he had been attacked by the First Slayer. The image of Joyce dead on the sofa. Just lay there, still, eyes open. As though she had merely sat down and never got up.

"Where do you come into this?" Joyce challenged Ethan head-on. All these explanations were shocking, horrifying and any manner of things, but the one thing that hadn't been reasoned was why Ethan was the one doing the explaining

Ethan yet again smiled the Aren't-I-Great smile.

"I want to help," He told them.

* * *

Willow was searching the grounds like everyone else when her torch cast it's light on a ghastly sight. A dead body.

"It went here!" She called out to everyone, her voice wavering slightly in horror. Everyone rushed over to her and stopped suddenly when their eyes fell on the dead man as well. Riley was the only one who went forward.

"No pulse," he announced and Willow rolled her eyes. She'd pretty much figured he was dead considering the whole non-breathing thing. She just wanted to get to the part where they walked far, far away from him.

"I don't see any marks on him…" Xander commented, checking the body as well. Willow also headed forward slightly, reluctantly, to get a better look. Which was when she recognized him.

"I-I know him!"

"You do?" Xander asked, "We have gotta find you some better social circles Will"

"No, he was at the hospital. When we were waiting for Joyce after she…. you know, in the magic store." Willow explained, "He was being taken into the mental ward"

* * *

"Pull the other one," Buffy said simply after Ethan had claimed he wanted to help. Ethan _never_ wanted to help. Hinder…maybe.

"Really," Ethan attempted to sound sincere but it just came out sounding slightly sarcastic, "I've researched the spells. I've got it all," He grinned, "I can fix it," He looked at Giles, "With your help"

"My help?" Giles asked sceptically. The request made the whole thing seem even more far-fetched. Ethan never helped and he never asked for it either. "To help Joyce? What are you really doing here Ethan?"

"Yeah," Buffy agreed, "And why- wait. Wait. If you're not the one causing it then how did you know Mom was ill in the first place?

At that question, Ethan seemed reluctant to answer, but Giles felt everything fall into place and the fact that Ethan was here at all suddenly became more believable.

"That's why you're really here isn't it?" He asked Ethan in realization and he saw that familiar nervous look form on his face.

"What do you mean?" Joyce asked at the same time Buffy merely questioned "Giles?" Giles ignored them both however as he continued talking directly to Ethan.

"After what you did last year, it was broke off mid-way wasn't it?" Giles continued referring to what Ethan had tried to do to Joyce, "so there was an unfortunate side-effect."

"Side effect? What side effect?" Joyce asked.

"Mom is suffering from a side-effect?"

"No," Giles shook his head, eyes still on Ethan, "Not for Joyce. For Ethan." He then looked at Buffy and Joyce as he went into an explanation of what he meant, "Because the…_process_…" He said carefully, "was left uncompleted, it leaves behind a tie. Something that leaves Ethan's energy linked with Joyce's. An exchange of sorts, I suppose. So whatever extreme Joyce goes through, such as what's happening now, Ethan would feel also." He looked back to Ethan, "So that's why you're really here. You're going to cure Joyce to save your own skin"

"Actually, that does sound more likely," Buffy admitted, looking over at Ethan as well.

"Full marks, Ripper," Ethan commented, "Glad to see you haven't completely lost your touch." He looked at all three of them, "But help is help right? And I know you're all getting desperate."

"Yes, we need help," Buffy admitted, "But not from you. We'll never need it from you. We'll figure it out for ourselves"

"You look just like your Father when he cried," Joyce suddenly told her and Buffy turned to her Mom in confusion, "And what do you think he was looking for?"

"Mom?" Buffy asked in a worried tone.

"Joyce," Giles gently shook Joyce's shoulders and she shook her head as if to clear it before looking at Giles.

"Mmm? Sorry…I'm just a bit tired" She clearly had no idea what she had just said and Giles and Buffy looked worriedly at one another.

"It's the effects," Ethan told them in exasperation, "And she's only going to get worse. You don't have _time_ to figure something out" Buffy and Giles shared a resigned look. Reluctantly they had to admit that Ethan, for once, had a point, "Gotta make up your mind, Rupes" Ethan told him and Giles started.

_Giles frowned in confusion at the man when he felt a tap on his other shoulder and saw Joyce stood there, wearing the same clothes, as she had been when he had found her on the sofa a minute ago. He looked in the living room and Joyce still lay dead on the living room floor at the same time as Joyce stood next to him. Spike walked in through the front door._

"_You see," He said to him, "You gotta make up your mind Rupes."_

"_Rules are like grass," Buffy told him, "Bending in the breeze"_

"What do we need?" Giles asked Ethan in answer.

* * *

"Uh guys, I've got some stuff," Willow announced from her seat at one of the college library computers, "The most recent meteoric anomaly was the Tunguska blast in Russia back in 1917. Some witnesses claimed the meteor was hollow"

"Maybe with a chewy demon center like ours" Xander proposed and Willow nodded.

"They go as far back to the Queller impact in the twelfth century"

"The what?" Tara asked.

"Queller." Willow repeated, a confused look on her face, "I-I don't know why they call it that, it didn't hit a place called Queller or anything. It landed just outside of Reykjavik in Iceland"

"Wait I just saw…" Xander told them as something registered and clicked in his head. He started flipping rapidly through the book he'd just been reading, "Queller. Quell…here!" He announced and began to read the excerpt aloud to the others, "Primitive people used to believe that the moon was a cause of insanity. Sometimes they would pray to the moon to send a special meteor to fix the problem the moon had caused. These meteors were expected to _quell_ the madman!" He slammed the book down on the table to emphasize his point.

* * *

"Willow, I can't really deal with this right now." Buffy said over the phone in her bedroom, "We're kinda dealing with Ethan and we're not gonna be done anytime soon"

"Oh you're gonna kick his ass?" Willow asked, her tone chipper and Buffy winced as she thought about the situation that had arisen since Ethan had arrived.

"It's a little more complicated than that to be honest Will," She decided to answer, "How about Riley? Isn't he helping?"

"Yeah, he is. He's doing recon research. Trying to find more victims, where it's headed...that sort of thing." Willow replied, "Apparently it killed all the mental patients at the hospital"

"Oh my god…" Buffy said, but she really didn't have the time to have the luxury of thinking the horrific event over, "Listen, Will, I've really gotta go. Update me later?"

"Yeah sure." Willow told her.

"Okay, bye." And she hung up, headed out of her room and back down the stairs into the living room where Giles and Ethan were sat.

"Well, Mom's in bed having a much needed rest," She told Giles, "She fell asleep like instantly." She briefly wondered whether to tell Giles about Willow's phone call, "And we may have some demon meteor thingy to deal with after all this is through"

"Really?" Giles asked casually and Buffy noticed that he wasn't taking his eyes off Ethan for a second, clearly prepared to beat the crap out of him at the slightest wrong move.

"So what's this spell you say we've gotta do to help my Mom?"

At the question, Ethan stood up and walked over to Buffy and her defences immediately went up. She didn't trust him as far as Xander could throw him.

"Before I even begin explaining I'm going to need these ingredients for the spell" He handed the list to Buffy and she snatched it out of his hands and scanned the list. She looked at him with a look of pure loathing.

"You haven't even got the things you need for the spell?" She asked, "You're pathetic"

"No, broke"

"I suppose in there there's an implication that we shall be the ones to pay for said ingredients?" Giles asked.

"Why, Ripper, I didn't know you cared"

"Fine," Buffy agreed coldly, before looking at Giles, "Watch him. Don't let him out of your sight. I'm going getting all this…" She looked at the list of random magickal items, "stuff. We're doing this as soon as possible- to save Mom and to get" she looked at Ethan, "_you_ out of my house"

"Sweet child," Ethan smiled, "Though your enthusiasm is contagious, it's long past shop hours. No stores are open for you to find the items on that list you're clutching so tightly in your hand" Buffy self-consciously loosed her grip on the paper before meeting Ethan with an even stare.

"They don't have to be," She told him simply, before walking to the side table and picking up Giles' keys and heading out the door.

"What's she going to do? Break into a store?" Ethan asked Giles the moment she left, "Like Watcher, like Slayer?"

Giles rolled his eyes before reluctantly explaining.

"I own the local magic store in town,"

"And here I thought you'd left that all behind, Ripper," Ethan smirked, but stopped when Giles threw him a warning glare.

* * *

A little while later, when it had moved into the early hours of the morning, Buffy returned, ingredients in hand.

"This better not take very long," Buffy warned as she closed the door, "Janice's Mom will be dropping off Dawn in a bit and I want you long gone by then" She was more moody than when she left mainly because the ingredients on the list had been harder to find than she had originally believed and so it took her longer than she wanted to complete the errand.

"What about Dawn?"

At the question, Buffy looked up to see her Mom walking down the stairs. She had one of her silk nightgowns on and so clearly had only just woken up.

"Oh, nothing bad. Don't worry." Buffy assured her, "Just that she's going to be home in a bit, is all. And I kinda wanted all this done before she got back"

Joyce nodded in understanding as she carried on walking down the stairs and came into the living room along side Buffy.

"And what is 'this' exactly?" She asked.

"Yeah," Buffy agreed, putting the bag of ingredients down on the coffee table before folding her arms across her chest, "We've got the ingredients, now it's time for you to spill Ethan. Talk or bleed situation here, your call. What spell are you doing?"

"We" Ethan automatically corrected.

"Me?" Buffy asked incredulously and Ethan rolled his eyes.

"No," He pointed at Giles, who right now was looking over the details of the spell and its ingredients, "him. This is a very high level spell and loathe as I am to admit it, I can't actually complete it without your help Ripper" He paused for a moment, "Not that you would trust me to do the spell alone anyway"

"But what does the spell _do_?" Buffy repeated her question slowly, getting impatient. It wasn't Ethan that answered though, but Giles.

"You can't break the original spell- it's too powerful…." Giles thought aloud as he continued to look over the different pieces of the spell, "but a lot of these things seem to be to neutralize it…or at least part of it," He stopped looking suddenly in realization. He looked over at Ethan, "You're going to rectify the memory part- the resistance that is presenting itself in the…in the…" He looked over at Joyce, clearly struggling to actually say the word and when he eventually did he stumbled over it, "t-tumor…" He looked back to Ethan, "You're going to make her forget Dawn…"

"What?" Joyce asked, "No. I won't forget Dawn. I don't care. I know she may not be my daughter by birth, but she's _still_ my daughter. We share the same blood. Blood's important…always got to be blood." She looked at Buffy, "We share the same blood as well you see," It was at this point that Giles and Buffy both realize that from a lucid point Joyce had again flowed into mad ramblings. Giles went over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders again so she was forced to look at him.

"Joyce,"

"This is a test isn't it?" She asked him, her eyes watering with tears as she seemed to start crying, "And if it counts for the final grade…I need to know…I need to know now! Teachers _should not_ look down on you"

Unable to bare seeing her Mother like this, in this state, Buffy turned away, biting her lip to prevent herself from crying. As she looked away in the opposite direction she saw Ethan had sat down in the chair again and he wasn't looking too well. He was bent over, head in his hands and was obviously suffering from a very bad migraine. Buffy thought that this, at least, proved that he really did have a reason to make her Mom better.

"Joyce, Joyce," Giles repeated her name, trying to get her attention back to reality, "Joyce it's okay."

She finally lost her glazed look and seemed to actually look at him and see him there in front of her.

"Oh…Rupert, I don't know what I'm doing…"

"I know, love, it'll be okay though…" He told her, bringing her close to him and she happily leant into him, letting him support her. With his arms still around her he turned to look at back at the now-feeling-better Ethan, "Forgetting Dawn? How could you possibly think that's the answer you heartless git"

Ethan put a hand to his chest, feigning hurt at Giles' insult.

"That hurt," He told him sarcastically, before becoming serious again. Or at least as serious as Buffy had ever seen Ethan get, "Now if you would stop jumping to conclusions, maybe I would be allowed to explain"

"Then explain," Buffy told him impatiently.

"Now, there is no way in any hell dimension that anyone is ever going to be able to undo the intricate spell behind all this. To do that, the caster would have to be enormously powerful- beyond anything I've ever seen before."

"Get to the point," Buffy said, sounding even more impatient than before and Ethan gulped slightly, before continuing.

"Well, we can't erase the spell but we can remove…certain parts of it."

"What do you mean?"

"We can remove the key part of the spell that's blocking the old memories…"

"The reason behind Mom's illness…" Buffy deducted and Ethan nodded, "But wait, wouldn't that mean Mom would have the memories with Dawn and the ones without?"

"Yes, she would..." Ethan, admitted

"Wouldn't that be a little confusing?"

"Confusing or dead- you're choice," Ethan told him and he didn't even see it coming in time to duck. Rather than punch him, like she normally did, Buffy had slapped him across the face. Hard.

"You know there are people who are nice, and give you presents, even when you are bad," Buffy heard her Mom ramble from where she stood in Giles' arms. From that one sentence, Buffy really struggled to keep herself together.

"Let's just do the damn spell," She said simply.

* * *

"Oh god, get it off me!" Willow called out to the others as the Queller demon lay on top of her dead. A knife protruded from it's back which Tara had stabbed in, to save her lover.

"I got it," Xander said with a grimace as he pulled the demon off his best friend and the Queller rolled to the floor on it's back like a really, really large dead termite. Xander couldn't hide a shudder as he held out his hand to help Willow up.

"Alpha team! Move!" An order screamed out startling the group that was Xander, Willow, Tara and Anya. "Surround the perimeters!" The group looked around in confusion as dozens of commandos ran around them, surrounding the dead demon. One familiar face was among them in civilian dress- Riley.

"You guys okay?" He asked, his eyes falling on the demon.

* * *

The spell apparently took a lot of long preparation. They'd been at it hours- each stage of the spell having to be done carefully and slowly apparently. The majority of the furniture in the living room had been pushed aside to make room on the floor for Ethan to cast a circle, while Giles cast the other. The two circles overlapped, creating a center circle for Joyce.

"And you thought your days of spell casting with me were over Ripper," Ethan commented with a smarmy grin, but Giles just met it with a glare.

"Shut it," He told him simply, but that merely made Ethan smirk all the more. Nevertheless, he didn't make another comment and continued preparing his half of the ritual in temporary silence.

Buffy found herself wondering what the two of them had been like when they first started doing magicks. A lot younger obviously and she guessed Ethan would have been just as full-of-himself as he was now and Giles…well she's gotten an unfortunate glimpse at teenage Giles a couple of years ago. Either way, when they met it would have been before they got into the heavy dark stuff she guessed…maybe just a mutual interest and power in the magicks. Kinda like Tara and Willow only male…and Tara and Willow didn't create a demon (as far as she knew)…and Tara and Willow were gay…Buffy then decided, as she looked at Giles and Ethan, that she no longer wanted to think in that vein of thought.

She looked to her left to see her Mom was still fast asleep on the sofa. Her mad ramblings had been enough to keep her awake all night so Buffy and Giles had both decided to offer her some sleeping pills to calm her down, which Joyce, when she was in a period of lucidness, willingly took. She had slept the hours of preparation away, but now she was apparently beginning to stir.

She blinked her eyes open, initially confused by her surroundings, before the memories of the previous night came flooding back to her.

"Rupert?" She asked dazily as she sat up, "Buffy? The door…someone needs to get the door…" She murmured as the sound of knocking entered her head.

"I'll get it," Buffy told her, heading out of the room.

When she opened the front door she saw Dawn stood there. Her sister turned back to look at her best friend and Mom who were still in the car. They waved before driving off. In that brief moment Buffy had time to worry about what Dawn would think when she walked into the hall and saw what was going on in the living room. She had to stop her from seeing anything.

"Are you doing magick?" Too late. "Can I see?"

"No, its bad, bad magick. Dangerous," Buffy told her, "Go to your room"

"You don't want me seeing anything around here do you?" Dawn challenged her older sister as she dropped her bags on the floor with a bang. "Everything's too frail for me. Poor, must-be-protected Dawn. You're not Mom"

Ethan couldn't help looking up when the volume of the argument escalated and he immediately regretted doing so. Luckily he had only seen Dawn briefly the night before, before she had been sent to her room and then to her friends. But now he was seeing her completely and it hurt his eyes. The glowing, green light around her was so vivid to him as he refused to accept the manipulation of a teenage girl. He could make out the form, but the energy she originally was, was so much clearer, and was slowly becoming more clearer than the image of 'Dawn'.

"Mom," Dawn whined, stomping over to her Mother in downright disobeyment of Buffy, "I can watch can't I?" She went to tap her Mom on the shoulder but as Joyce looked at her, she jerked away.

"Don't touch me! You-you _thing_!"

"M-m-mom?" Dawn stuttered, stepping back as Buffy pulled her away.

"Get away from me!" Joyce carried on, looking at Dawn in absolute disgust, "You're nothing, you're, you're a shadow!"

"Joyce, it's just Dawn, it's okay," Giles walked over to her while Buffy was seeing to Dawn. Joyce wouldn't pull her gaze away from her youngest daughter though.

"I don't what you are or how you got here…"

"Joyce, it's Dawn," Giles repeated as said daughter ran off up the stairs, clearly and understandably upset.

"Honey!" Joyce called after her, apparently suddenly lucid again, "Sweetie, what's wrong?" She looked from Buffy to Giles in honest confusion.

"She'll be fine," Buffy assured her before heading off up the stairs after her sister.

"What's happening to me?" Joyce asked Giles worriedly, not aware what she had said to Dawn, but aware that she had forgotten it.

"Shh, it's okay. It'll all be over soon." He told her soothingly.

"I don't know what I'm doing…what I'm seeing…" She shook her head; "I don't think I'm even able to read the TV guide anymore"

"Of course you could," Giles said and she looked at him with an expression of uncertainty.

"_How_? How do you know that though?"

"Well, I believe so because the TV Guide comprises of mainly pictures which require no reading at all" He told her with a slight smile and Joyce laughed in spite of the situation. He could always make her do that. Find the light in the darkest of situations be it on purpose or accidental.

"I think Dawn'll be okay," Buffy announced as she came back down the stairs, before her attention was pulled by the fact Ethan had stood up and was heading in the direction of the kitchen, "Whoa- hey, where d'ya think you're going?"

In answer Ethan silently held up a bowl that Buffy thought would do great for holding salad, but knew that Willow would no doubt tell her had some deep ceremonial meaning.

"It needs water," He told her and when she looked at him blankly he rolled his eyes in impatience. Was this what he had to work with here? He liked Buffy- as hard as that was to admit- she was a lively character who seemed to work as naturally with chaos as he did, though she didn't seem to acknowledge the fact. Her fiery temper and humor was also appealing, but sometimes she couldn't half be slow on the uptake, "For the spell…" He elaborated and Buffy nodded in reluctant acceptance and he headed into the kitchen quickly.

"Mom, are you okay?" Buffy asked, walking over to where her Mom and Giles were sat.

"I think so," Joyce answered sounding just as unsure as she felt.

"Right erm," Giles said standing up, "We need to uh, get Joyce into the middle circle that has been cast." At this statement Joyce stood up also and squinted at the intricately designed and cast circles on the floor, wondering which one _was_ the middle circle.

"You realize how unhappy I am about this right" Buffy checked with Giles.

"What?" Giles questioned, his tone quickly becoming a sarcastic one, "And this is my skipping through the daisies scenario? I think not"

"Okay," Buffy agreed, "So we're both not happy"

"Hello-Third party here," Joyce spoke up and Buffy nodded in acceptance.

"Okay all three of us are unhappy about our non-choice. One thing is for sure though- if anything goes wrong I will personally kill Ethan myself," She paused for a moment, "Where _is_ Ethan? He said he was just going to fill the bowl thingy with water."

Instantly suspicious, Buffy left her Mom and Giles stood in the living room as she walked quietly toward the kitchen. She walked slowly in not knowing whether she expected Ethan to still be there or not. He was though. Stood in front of the fridge, with the door open and leaning in.

"What are you doing?" She asked abruptly and in shock at hearing her voice he jumped and hit his head on the top of the fridge. "I thought you came to get water"

"I did," Ethan agreed, closing the fridge door as he rubbed his head, "I was hoping for bottled" He smiled at her in an attempt to exude confidence, but Buffy saw the flicker of nerves there, "It'd be better you see." He picked the bowl off the side and poured ordinary water from the tap into it, before walking past her without another word. Not trusting a word that came out of his mouth, Buffy walked over to the fridge.

Pulling open the door she inspected the contents of every shelf. It was unusually empty- but then again her Mom had an unwritten rule of only shopping once a week at the most and the assigned day wasn't till tomorrow. There were some eggs, milk, OJ, cheese that the age of which Buffy didn't like to think about, some foil bars of chocolate no doubt left there by her Mom, Dawn or herself, and one of Dawn's weird sweet things she was addicted to. Some processed meat was in there too for rushed sandwiches. But that was it. Nothing out of the ordinary. No bad magick-ticking-time-bomb things. Maybe Ethan had really been looking for bottled water. After all, the spell was benefiting him as much as Joyce so he would want it to be the best it could be.

She closed the fridge door with a shrug and headed back into the living room where they were ready to begin the spell.

* * *

_It was strange. One moment I was sat there, just in my living room Buffy sat on the sofa watching as Rupert and Ethan sat on either side of me. I was quite nervous. Make that very in fact. Well, one moment I was sat in my living room and then the moment both Ethan and Rupert started chanting…whatever it was they were chanting…I'm not quite sure- I've never been very good with all the magick things the group always seems to talk about, but the moment they started chanting everyone and everything around me just seemed to disappear. Not quite a fade-to-black moment, more of a fade-to-something else. It was strange really._

_I seemed to be flipping through memories, the most prominent ones anyway, of Dawn and I, or Dawn, Buffy and I. Just little things sometimes like watching an old film on the television when Dawn was only eight. She'd gotten so easily bored by the film- _Gilda-_ but then another had followed, another Rita Hayworth- I think there was a Hayworth theme on the channel more than likely- _You Were Never Lovelier. _She preferred that one, because she enjoyed the singing and dancing. She tried to copy it briefly before exhaustion and frustration made her give up. To be honest it had been more entertaining to watch Dawn than the actual film._

_Then on Dawn's eleventh birthday- a year after we moved to Sunnydale. It was just Buffy and I on her actual birthday; we were going to throw her a party on the following Saturday as her birth date had fallen on a school night. It had been Buffy's idea to put those permanently lit candles on the cake. You know the ones that don't blow out? It hadn't had the humorous outcome Buffy had predicted though as Dawn had become so incredibly upset by the entire thing- wondering why on earth the flame wouldn't go out. _

_Then suddenly I began to remember that she didn't. It was just Buffy and I watching _Gilda_ together and there was no candle upset because there was no cake._

_One of the first memories that seemed to stand out so clearly was Buffy's seventeenth. I remember how Dawn had been that night- in what Buffy named Pester Mode, much to Dawn's annoyance._

_I'd just returned from the kitchen with Buffy's sorry excuse for a cake. I'd been shamefully busy lately so to celebrate Buffy's seventeenth was a cupcake and one solitary candle (The type that do blow out.) Buffy was curled up on the sofa, looking lost as she watched the film on the TV while Dawn was sat on the floor, a bowl of sweets in her lap as she attempted to catch M&Ms into her mouth by throwing them into the air._

"_Did I miss anything?" I asked as I set the items on the table. An M&M clattered next to them, "Dawn," I sighed "Don't do that"_

"_Sorry," She mumbled in apology her mouth full. I just rolled my eyes and let it slide. It was Buffy's birthday so I wasn't going to get into a petty argument with Dawn over candies._

"_Sorry I didn't have time to make you a real cake," I apologized, but Buffy had seemed unbothered. _

"_No. This is good" Buffy said sadly. I knew something was up, not just by the way Buffy was, everything about her, but also because when an M&M hit her cheek she didn't even flinch or shout at her sister like normal._

"_Dawn," I said in frustration, "Put those down. If you're not going to eat them properly…"_

"_Fine," Dawn said, rolling her eyes- the first sign of the teenagedom to come no doubt._

"_So what'd you do for your birthday?" I asked Buffy, "Did you have fun?"_

"_Got older," Was all Buffy said in reply and it had been heart breaking. _

"_Yeah and you can tell as well," Dawn said, oblivious to the atmosphere that had developed, "A friend at school once told me that you start getting wrinkles at seventeen"_

"_Dawn!" I hadn't meant to shout, but Buffy was clearly upset and it was hard to split my attention. Plus, _seventeen? _I prayed that that was just another childish rumor Dawn had heard at school, because if it was true well then…there wasn't much hope for me, and I personally like to think there is._

"_It's alright Mom," Buffy told me, smiling slightly, "Let's just watch the movie."_

"_You don't wanna light the candle on your cake?" I asked and Buffy shook her head, as she slid down lying slightly on me as she sat comfortably to watch the film._

"_We'll do it later Mom…"_

_Except that wasn't how it went. Not really. Not originally. I said more to Buffy, or maybe it was Buffy that said more to me if you think about it. _

"_So what'd you do for your birthday?" I asked, "Did you have fun"_

_Buffy just stared at the table where the cupcake and candle lay._

"_Got older," She told me simply. The answer was so simple yet so complicated all at the same time and that alone seemed to bring truth to the statement and I felt my heart go out to her. Why couldn't I spare her the painful parts of growing up? Just leave her with the happy? Wasn't that what a mother was supposed to do? Protect her children. I looked at her carefully, trying to read her expression, but like so many times over the past couple of years she was unreadable. She never let me in, never shared anything. It was always secrets, secrets, secrets. _

"_You look the same to me," I told her and she still did in some ways. She was still my little girl. As Buffy sat there silent, I leant forward and lit the candle on the cake before blowing out the match and leaning back in my seat beside Buffy. "Happy Birthday," Not even a flicker of a smile. Nothing. I attempted a joke in a hopes of bringing a little bit of the light and sparkle back to her eyes, "I don't have to sing do I?"_

_Buffy laughed lightly, but it didn't seem heartfelt. It sounded more pitiful than anything. _

"_No," She told me quietly, looking down at her hands in her lap._

"_Well go on," I smiled as I gestured towards the cake, hoping it would be contagious. Sadly, it wasn't. "Make a wish"_

"_I'll just let it burn," That statement had sounded so sad, so much like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. It wasn't fair. I reached up to stroke her hair softly, pushing it slightly back, out of her face. As I did so I remember she leant over and rested her head on me as I continued to brush her hair with my hands and it was like, just for one moment, she was the sweet, carefree little girl from so many years ago._

_I love Dawn. With all my heart, I love Dawn. Even as each memory was revealed for what it truly was, I still felt that no matter what that Dawn was my daughter. She may not be mine, but she still belonged to us._

_But it was everything that had been changed that made me feel violated. It was like none of my memories were my own anymore- they'd been tampered with. And all those times with Buffy, quality time, bad times, good times, had just been taken away._

_I loved Dawn. But that fact just didn't seem fair._

_Poor Dawn though. She didn't even know..._

_Then everything went black._

* * *

When Joyce opened her eyes she was vaguely aware that she was lay down on the floor and the living room was dark. It was nighttime already and none of the lights were on. She squinted through the shadows, her eyes focusing to see Giles and Buffy both coming to also.

"Is everyone okay?" Giles asked.

"Yeah, I've got a bump the size of Canada…" Buffy told him, glaring at the offending knocked-over lamp she had hit her head on.

"What happened?" Joyce asked.

"It's the impact of the spell," Giles explained while trying to get his bearings in the darkness, "Once it was completed I believe it sent off a sudden burst of energy-"

"Like an explosion?" Buffy asked.

"Yes, exactly," Giles agreed, "Which is the most likely reason for our…being knocked out"

"Again in your case," Buffy told him happily just as she heard Dawn run down the stairs.

"What's going on?" Her younger sister asked energetically, hinting that she was leaning towards panic, "The lights have all gone out"

"That's also a side-effect," Giles added.

"The electricity's _blown_?" Joyce asked worriedly. She didn't think she had near enough candles to last the night.

"I'll go fix it in a minute," Giles assured her.

"Why 'in a minute'?" Buffy asked thinking that she personally would prefer lighting now. She stood up and wobbled on her legs as she felt a wave of dizziness pass over her. She sat back down on the sofa. "Oh that's why…"

"Are you all okay?" Dawn asked, concerned, "Y-you're all acting really weird"

It was then Joyce first fully realized that she was stood there in the room with them. She remembered her being there and her not. All the mother-daughter things she and Buffy had done without Dawn there, all the sibling rivalry that _hadn't_ existed. It was all so confusing. Buffy was her only daughter…but Dawn was her daughter also. Spell or no that was never going to change.

"Yeah, of course we're okay honey," Joyce told her, calling her over, "Come here"

Dawn walked over to her Mom and sat down beside her as Joyce gave her a tight hug.

"Where's Ethan?" Buffy asked abruptly, interrupting the sentimental mother-daughter moment and the group looked around as though trying to find Ethan hidden in a corner.

Giles realized his former friend had done one and got out of there fast. He cursed loudly and badly.

"Rupert!" Joyce chastised, covering Dawn's ears.

"Did all he needed to save his own skin and then cleared off," Buffy summarised grimly, shaking her head in disbelief though she really didn't know why she was shocked. It was Ethan after all- what else did she expect?

"Should we be worried?" Joyce asked the others, thinking an Ethan on the loose couldn't ever be considering a good thing. Buffy thought for a moment as she fully contemplated the question. Eventually she shook her head.

"No, I don't think we'll be see him again. Not for a while anyway"

"Not if he knows what's good for him," Giles added, the threat evident in his voice. He looked over in Joyce's direction and though it was dark he was starting to see more clearly and could see Joyce sat there, Dawn in her arms. "Are you okay now?" He asked.

Buffy instantly recognized a 'private moment' coming on and she stood up, thankful that she was now steady on her feet.

"Come on Dawn," She said, walking over and pulling her sister up, "Be my electricity buddy. I don't know about you but I like the lights on at night"

The moment the two left the room Giles went over to sit next to Joyce

"Is everything…"

"Normal?" She finished his sentence, punctuating it with a small laugh. "Everything's a little confusing to be honest. I mean I can remember Dawn growing up and all the things she's done…" She smiled wistfully at the thought of some of the more amusing memories, before looking at Giles. His eyes the only clear feature in the dark, "But I also remember her not- I remember all the times I spent with Buffy…without Dawn there." She took a deep breath, "It hurts to know she isn't really mine…and to remember that"

At that, Giles instantly felt guilty, selfish even, that they had done this. Maybe they could have found another way around it all- instead of putting Joyce through this. He went to say something, apologize perhaps, but Joyce carried on talking.

"But it's better than me not remembering at all…or me not being here to look after her…" Joyce's voice broke a little as she thought how close everything had come. She took a hold of Giles' hand as though really desperately wanting to put across the point she was trying to make, "I just wanna protect her. With Glory after her…after what she used to be…she's still my little girl. I don't want her to get hurt, ever. I can't let it."

Giles used his grasp on her hands, to pull Joyce gently closer to him and she contentedly sat against him as he hugged her.

"We'll both watch out for her," he told her, "I will personally make sure nothing happens to Dawn"

* * *

Buffy was tossing and turning in bed. It was too hot to sleep properly and for once there wasn't even Riley beside her to keep her calm, encouraging her to sleep peacefully after they'd…well, slept restlessly. Plus, she had too many things on her mind, revent events playing over and over, for her to sleep easier. She woke up, eyes wide, desperate for a drink of water. Rolling onto her side she looked at her bedside table where an empty glass stood. She groaned as she realized this meant she'd have to get up. Throwing the covers off herself, she grabbed the tumbler off the side and headed out of her room.

She walked down the hall to see Giles hadn't yet gone to sleep either (She briefly wondered when this thought had ceased to give her the wiggins as much as it used to.). He was stood in the doorway of his and her Mom's bedroom (This thought had also started decrease in wiggyness), apparently just watching her Mom sleeping.

"Giles?" At the sound of his name, Giles jumped slightly and turned around to see Buffy stood there in the hallway, "Couldn't sleep either, huh?"

"I just can't believe how close we came to loosing her," Giles said, looking back at Joyce. Her sleep was definitely more restful now as she was no longer tossing and turning painfully.

"Well, we don't know that," Buffy reasoned, "The doctors could have fixed it…and everything would have been fine" Giles just looked at her, showing he knew her to be as unconvinced by that argument as he was. She sighed in resignation, "Fine, but it's all fixed now thanks to…and I can't believe I'm saying this…thanks to Ethan" She frowned, "Allow me never to say _that _sentence again"

Giles didn't answer, but just kept looking at Joyce and Buffy got the feeling this was kind of a private moment so went to edge off, but she stopped as Giles spoke.

"I don't know what I'd do without her, Buffy"

Buffy fell into stunned silence as she was taken aback by the no-holds-barred on the feelings front. She knew that her Mom and Giles must love each other- they were getting married after all- but she'd never actually heard either of them attest to that fact. It was one of those unspoken things. This was the first time Buffy had heard anything close to that…and she really didn't know how to reply.

Uncomfortable with the atmosphere Buffy went for a slight change of topic by asking the question that had been on her mind since the other night when Ethan had turned up on their doorstep.

"You know like Ethan said the reason behind Mom's illness…was the spell the monks used to create Dawn?"

"Yes," Giles nodded, turning to look at Buffy.

"Why didn't I see it?" She asked, "When I cast that revealing spell"

"Well, if what Ethan said was correct and I assume it was- though I have no idea how he came across all the information and in fact I think it would be better on the whole to choose not to know- well, then the effect of the spell were present in the-" Giles paused as he went to say the technical term but changed his mind part way through, "…part of Joyce's brain that stores memories. So as memories aren't visible to the naked eye…the spell wasn't visible on Joyce either…"

"…Which was why it showed itself in the photos…" Buffy deducted. Silence fell again.

"Erm, why are you up Buffy?"

"Oh erm," She held up her empty glass, "Drink. Of the needed"

He nodded silently, before becoming lost in his thoughts again and Buffy quietly headed down the stairs to the kitchen.


	10. Into the Woods

zigpal- Ooh I even get a dance for that chapter?! (picked up and danced about should I say...haha) I'm so very happy you liked it so much, and your welcome on the hittage of Ethan front (Maybe we'll have further chance for that in the future haha...). As for Riley being slapped about a bit- well, it doesn't happen in this chapter as he isn't actually in it- but I do have plans for when he returns in season 6...

Rabidreject- thank you so very much for the review. And don't worry about wow, stick with it- I like it. haha ;-D.

You two gave me such an uber happy with your reviews but I have to ask...where has g120 gone? You three are like my power-giving Triumvirate of reviewers that I want to send virtual FF dot net chocolates to...

And sorry guys for the late update. Things have been really hectic lately. ;-)

* * *

**A/N: I apologize to very young eyes, as some parts of the beginning of this chapter are definitely rated mature in a NC-17 kind of way. It was inspired by Xander's conversation with Dawn in the original episode and suddenly both Giles and Joyce seemed to be asking for their sex life to take a spotlight for one chapter. So blame them, it's all them. And may this leave your perception of Giles unwarped.**

* * *

"You pick Dawn," Xander encouraged as he, Dawn and Anya looked at the cinema listings in the paper, "You're the guest, so you choose" 

Anya looked very upset by this decision and leaned over to whisper film suggestions in the fourteen-year-old's ear.

"_Go monkey…choose monkey…"_

"It's okay," Dawn, told them, ignoring Anya's weird hints, "You guys don't have to make a big deal about me staying over. I'm only sleeping over here because Riley and Buffy are boinking at his place and Mom and Giles are boinking at home"

Xander choked on air. How could this girl be so blunt? Did she know nothing of embarrassment and denial?

"No, that's not it…that's not it at all," he told her.

* * *

Dinner was delicious, the taste still resting pleasantly in her mouth as Giles had once again proven that among many other talents, he could cook. As Joyce finished her slice of cake that been laid out for dessert, she took another moment yet again to take in the huge effort he had made for the night. 

The wonderful dinner, the music, the romantic lighting courtesy of numerous glowing candles…it all seemed so much and so overwhelmingly wonderful.

"You're spoiling me," Joyce smiled at him as, after being sat together at the dining table, they now moved to sit in the living room, the candlelit theme having carried on from room to room.

"Well, you deserve it," He told her, meaning every word, "After everything that happened…everything you've been through…you definitely deserve it"

"Well," Joyce debated, smiling suggestively at him, "I would have to say that so much effort only deserves some spoiling in return."

"Really?" Giles questioned, returning the smile as she leant over to him, pressing her lips against his. This kiss started gently at first, but the passion of it quickly grew. She lifted her legs up onto the sofa so she could kneel on the back of her legs, making herself level with Giles as she continued to kiss him, wrapping her arms around his neck as the two of them mutually deepened the kiss. He was forced to pull his lips away from hers as he felt her start to undo the collar of his shirt. Not to be outdone, he began unlacing the string tie that was interwoven into her skirt. Her top slipped up slightly as he glided his hands underneath the hem, brushing his hands against her bare skin and the moment they made contact she seemed to take a sharp intake of breath, before pressing her lips against his once more, running her fingers through his hair as she did so as he carried on running his hands gently, teasingly, along her bare back.

"We really should stop doing this in the living room," Giles said when the kiss broke temporarily, both of them coming up for air.

"Mm-hmm," Joyce agreed without conviction as she focused more on undoing the rest of the buttons on his shirt, "Next time…"

Giles nodded distractedly in agreement as he too became more focused on other things besides environment as he pulled Joyce's spaghetti strap top off over her head in one fluid motion. The top dropped to the side of the sofa at the same time she finally undid all the buttons on his shirt and shoved the sleeves down, off his arms, and tossed the garment aside.

He gazed as she sat there, smiling, in just her skirt and a lace bra, and just a small, silver cross necklace he had bought her for her last birthday. Her creamy colored skin looked a healthy, glowing bronze in the light of the candles and it made her blonde locks look golden.

Unable to resist any longer, he leaned over to her, and coursed feather light kisses along her neck which he traced along her shoulder, slightly down onto her back as he leaned further forward and unhooked the fasten on her bra smoothly and pulled the item away, sliding it off her arms as he pulled away from her. He sat back to look at her, the bra now cast aside with the other items, admiring everything about her.

She smiled at him, but didn't give him much longer to look as she slid over, closer to him, and undid the buckle his belt. Once it was gone, she undid the zip, pausing before letting him slide off the trousers completely to run the palm of her hands lightly over the coarse hairs spread over his chest. His breathing became heavier, more erratic as she teased her hands through the strands, drifting down to the trousers where her warm palms pushed and urged him to take them off. As he complied, she unzipped the back of her skirt, the noise sounding more seductive than it should to Giles and she slid off the soft pink item.

Instantly he drew her close, indulging in the familiar and thrilling feel of her skin against his as they let their mouth continue what their hands had started. Gently, he pressed her back to lie down on the soft cushions of the couch, covering her body with his as their mouths traced over each other, lingering. He placed his hands behind her head, to guide her as she he gently pressed for her to tip her face to the side so he could fully rediscover the soft skin of her neck, shoulder, collarbone. His soft kisses sent blissful shivers running through her and she closed her eyes as she breathed in every touch, suddenly jerking slightly with happy surprise as he nibbled her ear.

She sighed with as much content as exhilaration when his hands cupped her breasts, his mouth caressing over the firm flesh as he travelled further down her body. He rolled his tongue over one nipple, teasing her and she let out an involuntary and pleasure-filled gasp as she put her arms around him pulling him tighter to her as he continued to lip her nipple. She responded, unaware that she had done so, so soon, as she became lost in the heat of the moment. He felt her rocking, her hips moving to the same rhythm as his tongue, offering greatly needed friction against his throbbing penis.

Refusing to give in to temptation yet, he continued his actions onto her other nipple and her rocking continued at the same pace as she gripped his shoulders desperately as though making certain he wasn't moving away. He took his lips away from her breasts, tracing up along her neck before reaching her lips again. As she parted her mouth and he gained entrance again, tongues dancing, he reached his hands down to her underwear and he pushed away the panties, down her legs, where she eventually kicked them off.

As she used one hand to tug at his boxers, she used her other to reach behind her, searching desperately for the drawer she needed to find in the side table. Finally getting a grasp on the handle she tugged before reaching inside, searching the contents blindly as she revelled in the rewarding feel of him against her, now his own underwear had been tossed. She finally found what she was looking for, kissing him passionately again as she pulled out a foil wrapper from the drawer.

As he took it from her, she watched him rip open the packet and to accentuate the experience he made the condom part of the play, her pleasure filled moans only encouraging him, before he finally knelt over her.

She spread her legs wide for him, pulling him tightly closer as she wrapped one arm around his neck, the other around his back Once he was close enough for her, she took her hand off his back and moved it down to his penis in one smooth, unbroken motion. She took his stiff length in her palm to guide him in.

"Joyce," he moaned as he made contact with the inviting muscles of her channel, it was intoxicating.

"Rupert!" Joyce's groan was so much louder than his that it bordered on shouting, a loud sexual cry, "Please, Rupert!" as she desperately wanted to feel him closer, for her to come to her climax, her cries became begs.

"I'm here Joyce…" He assured her quietly, his warm breath adding more to the stimulation as it tickled her neck. Slowly, he bore down, driving deep inside of her and she started to begin the same rhythmic rocking of before and she arched in a pleasured response.

"Oh my god!" Her cry was a so like a shout now but at the same time seemed low, erotic and quietly personal enough for only him to hear, no matter how loud she said it, and he felt it all along his shaft.

* * *

"They just need to time to be…tender," Xander assured an unconvinced Dawn. 

"He's not very convincing is he?" Anya checked and Dawn shook her head.

* * *

"Right," Giles said as he stepped down from putting up the banner above the Magic Box counter. "And so it begins. No longer a victim of crass holiday commercialisation…I'm a purveyor of it" 

"You know, I'll never get this whole multi-culture thing," Joyce told everyone, as she read the numerous holidays listed on the banner.

"What do you mean?" Xander asked.

"Well, I don't get how you have to make sure everyone's not offended." Joyce explained, "I mean I don't celebrate…" She squinted at one of the holidays, "Gurnenthar's Ascendance, but I'm not offended by people who do. I just don't understand when Christmas became an offence…"

"Yeah," Willow nodded in agreement, heading over to the counter with a cardboard box full of items, "I mean I'm a Jewish Wiccan who celebrates Christmas with you guys. That's like Hanukah, Yule and Christmas all wrapped up in one," She thought for a moment, "I'm the poster girl for multi-culturalism"

"Oh, who ordered more chicken' feet?" Anya asked as she pulled a jar out of the box Willow had just deposited, "The ones we have aren't moving at all."

"That generally happens when you cut them off the chicken," Xander quipped.

"I'm serious," Anya insisted, as she opened the jar, "Maybe we could do a holiday promotion" She took out a chicken foot, looking to it for inspiration, "One free with every purchase!"

"Oh yes…" Giles commented, with a nostalgic look on his face, "Dear holiday memories, merry tykes by the fire, enjoying their brand new…chicken feet…"

"Aww, yeah…." Willow agreed, sounding equally nostalgic, "holding them tightly as they fall fast asleep, painting their little toenails."

"Oh I don't know…" Joyce added, sensing the sarcasm in their voices, "They could be just perfect for mini Willows and Taras…" She smiled, clearly teasing also and Anya slammed the chicken foot on the counter in annoyance, smiling her own unimpressed smile.

"That's so very humorous. Make fun of the ex-demon! I can hear you in private," She began to talk to the chicken foot, "'I dislike that Anya. She's newly human and strangely literal'"

"I don't say that," Willow told her, "No one says that. No one talks that way"

"And I like you Anya," Joyce assured her with a smile, "It's just some of your thoughts border on…unconventional"

"There's nothing wrong with my idea," Anya protested, "I've been good for this store," She frowned, "If it wasn't for me Giles would be a terrified old man staring at a quarterly tax payment and Joyce would be overwhelmed with bills for 24 hours nurse care for him while she spends the rest of her life doomed to be a bored, unsatisfied housewife"

"I say that's an exaggeration," Giles protested and Joyce nodded in worried agreement.

"Anya, you've helped out a lot…" Willow reasoned, "Maybe not to _that_ extent…but you know, I've helped too"

"Yes," Anya agreed sarcastically, "I forgot about all the vigorous sitting around"

"Anya you can back off a little," Xander told her kindly, "You get paid. Willow's doing this in her own time."

Anya nodded and plastered on a fake smile as she looked at Willow.

"I'm sorry Willow. Thank you for making time in your busy life to come in here and get in the way of mine."

"Anya, play nice," Xander, told her.

"Willow only does the oddjobs around here remember," Joyce told her, "You're the employee. I mean, you don't mind me being here do you?"

Anya seemed to consider this for a moment before shaking her head with a frown.

"No, but that's different. You're just here, here and you're with _him-_" She pointed out Giles, before gesturing at Willow, "_She's_ just wandering around…'helping out' which translates as…getting in my way!"

"Anya, what did I tell you?" Xander questioned with a warning tone.

"Fine!" Anya pouted angrily, "Take her side! Even though I'm the one that sleeps with you and feeds you and bathes you…"

The group were saved having to question the last action on the list, by Buffy storming in through the door.

"I need to find out everything I can about a vamp nest downtown"

"A nest?" Giles questioned, "What sort of-"

"There were people there," Buffy explained, her expression deadly sombre, "It looked, um, it looked like they were paying vampires to bite them."

"Now I know what to get for the person who has everything!" Xander exclaimed.

"Oh my god, isn't that dangerous though?" Joyce asked Buffy, but looked around at everyone in case they had the answer, "I mean aren't vampire bites a bad thing?" As she asked the question she subconsciously rubbed at the scar on her neck.

"Yeah," Willow agreed, "I mean who would pay to get bitten?"

"Oh that's been going on for centuries," Anya, explained casually, "Humans hire vampires to feed off them, they, well you know, get off on the rush"

"And the…hazards of the underworld can become addictive," Giles said knowledgeably before adding, "Uh…for some people"

"Why don't the vampires just kill 'em?" Xander asked the question that everyone had been thinking.

"Because they get cash," Anya answered, "Hot and cold running blood…they don't leave any corpses behind so they don't get hunted"

"But still i-it can be terribly dangerous for humans," Giles added, "I mean people can end up dying accidentally, or, or meeting a vampire who only pretends to play by the house rules."

"You knew about this and you didn't tell me?" Buffy asked angrily and Giles was taken aback by her attitude.

"I hadn't seen it since my Ripper days…"

While Joyce was paying full attention to the conversation and was extremely concerned about what Buffy had found out, at the mention of Giles' Ripper days she couldn't help briefly thinking of his Ripper nights and a little smile played at her lips as she thought of the most recent. Sure they had started in the living room but it had eventually moved to the hall…. which had eventually moved to the bedroom which had eventually moved to the actual bed.

"_Hey!_" Willow whispered loudly to her, "_I saw that! Bad smiling- bad lighting up. Bad appeal. Badness_" Willow was pleased to see Joyce look suitably embarrassed and would no longer catch Willow's eye and instead began to focus intently on the conversation between Buffy and Giles. Pfft, and people used to think Willow Rosenberg was a pushover. Pfft.

"Vampires are vampires," Buffy stated angrily, "And my job description is pretty easy. Are you coming with me or not?"

"Well, uh, not actually," Giles replied and it was Buffy's turn to be taken aback.

"_What_?"

"Well, that is, I, uh, would except…your mother has an appointment at the hospital in a little while, remember?"

"Wait…I thought that was all sorted," Willow said in confusion, "With Ethan turning up and everything"

"Well yeah…" Buffy agreed, "But what is she supposed to say to the doctors? Hey don't worry about it- a spell made it all better?"

"Oh. Well. Yeah." Willow nodded in agreement with a little smile as she realized what Buffy said made sense.

"So what was it?" Xander asked

"What was what?"

"The spell that Ethan cast…"

"Yeah," Willow said, interested to find out as well, "Why was it all protection-y?"

Giles, Joyce and Buffy all shared nervous glances knowing they couldn't tell the group the truth, mainly because none of them knew the truth about Dawn. So, what could they say instead? It was Joyce who answered the question.

"It was uh to do with…what happened last year"

As her Mom said this, Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. Not only did the answer make sense and was reasonable but it came from a very sensitive topic and so would ensure no further, complicated questions from the others.

"Oh," Willow said quietly while Xander nodded silently. Anya wasn't really paying attention as she checked the amount of money in the cash register.

"So, who is coming then?" Buffy asked, resuming the topic from before as she headed over to the weapons chest. Xander and Willow reluctantly followed.

* * *

"You know, after everything we've done you'd think I wouldn't be nervous," Joyce commented with a quiet, nervous laugh a she sat on the table in the small dark room, legs swinging with nerves. "It's just hospitals and the CAT scan…it's all…." She was saved from finishing her sentence and Giles replying by Dr Issacs walking into the room, x-rays in hand and a worried look on his face. 

"Sorry, it took so long Mrs Summers, but I had to confer some things with some colleagues of mine"

"Confer what things…?" Joyce her expression now mirroring the worried one of Dr Issacs. The doctor started placing the scan results up on the light board on the wall.

"I'm not quite sure what to say," He told them as he turned away from the placed X-rays, "But I believe we've found something"

"What?" Joyce asked louder than she had intended. She looked at Giles, "How is that possible?"

He had no answer, but went to suggest a possible theory when Dr Issacs continued talking.

"Well at least what used to be something," Dr Issacs frowned at the results, "Still is…. used to be…is…"

"Dr Issacs?" Joyce prompted and he turned away from the x-rays to look at her, "Could you explain your thought process please?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized and took a deep breath. None of them knew whether it meant anything yet, but he still hated giving this type of news. But it was part of the job and so there was nothing to do but bite the bullet, "We've found a shadow…and from what we can gather, it has the potential to be a brain tumor"

_But I suspect if you took her to the doctors they'd have some scientific explanation. A brain tumor more than likely_

Ethan's words came to Joyce's mind and she realized that what Dr Issacs was pointing out on the scan was the physical effect of how'd she'd been effected by…everything. She couldn't bring herself to think 'effected by Dawn'. It really wasn't Dawn's fault. She didn't even know. But the tumor was still there? Maybe the spell couldn't fix damage already done- maybe that had to be dealt with the old fashioned way. She found Giles' hand and held onto it tightly as Dr Issacs continued talking.

"But you see this lighter shadow surrounding the darker?" He pointed out the area, "this seems to be where it, whatever _it_ is, used to be" He looked at them both with a doctor-serious face

"What is it?" Joyce asked, "I mean, besides the obvious"

"Any mass, Mrs Summers, malignant or not either spreads or remains one size permanently…but this, this here," He pointed out the shadow again before looking back at them in confusion. "This seems to shrinking. It's as though it _was_ fully forming but whatever was causing it before- well, the pressure has been released and so has the mass with it"

"Well, isn't that a good thing?" Giles checked while personally thinking it definitely was. If the 'mass' was disappearing it meant the spell had been a complete success and Joyce was going to be okay.

"That depends," Dr Issacs reasoned honestly, "When the pressure was released the mass may have stopped developing, but it should have stayed the way it was- not began to depreciate." He looked at Joyce, "A biopsy would be needed for further observation."

"I don't want to," Joyce protested only realizing how childish she sounded when it came out of her mouth.

"Mrs Summers…Joyce," Dr Issacs said pleadingly, "You must understand that this is a very delicate situation and it's for your own benefit for us to look further into it"

Knowing she didn't want a hole drilled into her skull through a biopsy, especially since she had figured that all this Dr Issacs was pointing out only further proved the spell had worked and she was thankfully okay, she looked at Giles, silently pleading for him to be the swing vote and convince Dr Issacs.

"Uh, Dr Issacs?" Giles inquired, "I, uh, can you force her to stay for the biopsy? Is it obligatory?"

"Well, uh, n-no…" Dr Issacs replied reluctantly as he knew exactly where this conversation was heading "It's Joyce's choice ultimately, but," He now turned from answering Giles to look to Joyce to appeal to her common sense, "considering how this could be a malignant mass- I mean, we actually don't know what it is at all, I strongly advise that you stay. It'd only-"

"No," Joyce told him quietly.

"Joyce- please, you understand I only have your best interests-"

"I'm going home," Joyce told him firmly, interrupting his arguments, as she got up off of the table. Dr Issacs sighed in reluctant resignation.

"I really do hate to let you go Joyce, but…. well, if you experience any further problems…_please_ don't hesitate to come back in."

"Thank you," Joyce told him with genuine appreciation and went to leave but Dr Issacs stopped them.

"Uh, I'm afraid you'll have to fill in some forms…"

"No problem," She assured him with a smile before turning back to Giles as they walked out of the room together. She didn't care how many forms she had to fill in; she just wanted to get out of there.

* * *

Joyce didn't like to admit it, admit it to anyone at all, but everything that had happened at the hospital earlier that day had really shaken her up. That was why she is was in the kitchen alone, washing the dishes or rather not washing the dishes. Instead she was stood there, staring at them, hands not even in the water. 

When Ethan had arrived in Sunnydale last week and told her what he had. About how…the monks' spell had effected her she had just accepted it as words. Words that would be remedied.

But going to the hospital, having the CAT scan had brought a harsh reality to it all. It made the brain tumor a real, living thing. She, Joyce Summers, had had a brain tumor. Still did actually, for a while anyway, if what Dr Issacs had revealed was correct. Subconsciously she lightly touched the side of her head with her fingers thinking of what could have developed there. A brain tumor…it would have gotten worse. Operations. Would she have even survived? Would she had have to have left Buffy and Dawn behind? Buffy had enough to deal with in her life, without her Mother not being there for support.

Joyce put her arms around herself tightly, a sorry attempt at bringing herself child-like comfort when she felt warm hands on her shoulders and looked to see Giles stood behind her smiling a smile at her that revealed he knew exactly what she was feeling and why and so also knew there wasn't much to say in response or sympathy. She turned around to face him and smiled back. This was more of the comfort she needed. Safe- all of it safe reminders that she was still here, it was all okay, that she wasn't going anywhere and that she wasn't going to have to leave anyone behind.

She didn't say anything herself either, but merely reached up, her lips brushing his in a tender kiss and as he deepened it, leisurely drawing her in, she wrapped her left arm casually around his neck, drawing him to her and soon the right arm joined the left.

She pulled away from him as an upsetting sound reached her ears, disturbing the couple. Once they were parted, she listened more intently and identified the sound as crying and it was coming from the hall. Gently sliding past Giles, who at the time had been still close to her against the sink, she headed into the hallway, following the sound.

Buffy was there on the stairs. Just sat there. Looking lost. Her face tear stained as her sobs now became silent.

"Buffy?" Joyce asked quietly and her daughter barely looked up.


	11. Christmas

Yay my triumvirate is back, haha.

g120- Feeling all non-reviewy :-O! I'm shocked and horrified. **.::turns away in offence::.** haha. Glad you're feeling more reviewable again. And ooh getting part four today then? What a coincidink- got mine today as well. Was vair happy. hehe. I just get a sad when I come to the end of the issue because it's all like good and break of too much goodness makes me feel bad (hehe) and it's a whole big wait till AUGUST for next issue! Pfft. Glad you thought the sex scene was written well- was a bit apprehensive about it- I was also worried like an eleven year old was going to come across and have her/his innocence stripped away from them in a paragraph (Hello I don't want that festering on my conscience. I wanna be fester-free. Or at the very least...fester-lite) Thanks for reviewage.

Rabidreject- Thanks for review. Glad you liked and don't worry, Joyce is now in the clear.

zigpal- Thanks for clappage and compliments of greatensss hehe. And yah- another Buffy-crying job for Joyce. It's happened with _every _boyfriend...pfft. And don't worry, when Riley returns they will be a distinct lack of getting away with it.

* * *

A/N: So this is an extra chapter inspired by The Body of all episodes.

* * *

December 25th 2000

_"Snow is falling, all around me, children playing having fun. It's the season, love and understanding. Merry Christmas everyone"_

"I don't think you were in Sunnydale when it snowed two years ago, were you?" Willow asked Tara casually as she slipped on her dark green top over her pants, the lyrics of the song playing on the stereo prompting Willow's memories. She looked at Tara across their dorm room and her girlfriend shook her head.

"No, I only moved here last year…for college you know? But I heard about it on the news though"

_"Time for presents and exchanging kisses. Time for singing Christmas songs"_

"Ooh," Willow gave a look of proud approval; "Sunnydale makes the headlines for something more than mysterious deaths" She headed over to the windowsill and looked outside. The weather was colder than it had been in their senior year of High School, but it was nowhere near cold enough for snow…and there was no resurrected vampire for the Powers that Be to save this year either.

"So what time to we have to be there?" Tara asked, drawing Willow out of her thoughts

_"Room is swaying, records playing all the old songs you love to hear. Oh I wish that everyday was Christmas, what a nice way to spend the year"_

"Be where?" Willow asked obliviously.

"At Buffy's…." Tara prompted with a laugh and Willow's eyes filled with recognition.

"Oh…well, Buffy said about 2 o clock I think…so I think we've got a little while yet…."

"Oh well, uh good…" Tara said and Willow raised her eyebrow, sensing that her girlfriend was getting at something.

"What is it?"

"Well…" Tara turned around and walked over to the dresser behind her and pulling open the top drawer. Willow craned her neck to try and see around her, to see what she was doing. She pulled out a small package, obscured from Willow's view before closing the drawer again.

"_We're gonna have a party tonight. I'm gonna find that girl underneath the mistletoe and kiss by candlelight!"_

Tara turned around to face Willow again and she saw her lover's eyes light up in pleasant surprise when she saw the small present being held in Tara's hands.

"Tara, you didn't!" Willow exclaimed, "I thought, I thought we already did prezzies?"

"We did…" Tara agreed, "I just got you a little something else as a surprise"

"Ooh," Willow exclaimed cheerily taking the small box Tara was handing her eagerly. She paused as she went to open it, a frown forming on her face.

"What's the matter?"

"I didn't get you anything extra…" Willow sulked guiltily.

"It doesn't matter," Tara assured her with a small smile, "Just open it"

Willow pulled the decorative top off the little box carefully and slowly to find pink tissue paper inside. Balancing the box on top of its lid in one hand she poked through the crinkly, pink paper carefully until she could see the item wrapped inside.

"Oh Tara!" Willow exclaimed blissfully, holding up the amethyst bunny-shaped key ring.

"I saw you looking at it in the store…and, well I thought you should have it," Tara's smile then faltered, "You do like it don't you? I mean, you weren't looking at it because you thought it was awful or anything…."

"It's perfect," Willow told her, smiling, as she headed forward and gave her a warm kiss on the lips, pouring all her thank yous into it. "And now," Willow continued as they pulled apart, "Now I feel even more guilty about not getting you something…'"

Tara smiled cheekily.

"Well, carry on later where that kiss left off…. and we'll call it even"

"You little minx" Willow grinned.

"_Merry Christmas Everyone!"_

* * *

_"Santa Baby, stick a sable under the tree for me. Been an awful good girl, Santa Baby so hurry down the chimney tonight"_

"Ahn, we don't have time for…" Xander tried to resist as Anya stood there in the doorway to their bedroom, red and white jingle bells underwear with a see through red negligee. He looked at his watch. They really needed to go. They were going to be late for Buffy's. But Anya had yet to change out of her sexy ensemble and the music was still playing the uncannily appropriate song.

"We've had time for it all day so far…." Anya smiled, her right leg making its way slowly up and down the doorframe.

"_Think of all the fun I've missed. Think of all the fellers that I haven't kissed. Next year I could be just as good. If you check off my Christmas list."_

Xander shook his head to clear it. He really couldn't be distracted by Anya right now. It was twenty to two as it was.

"Anya…that's exactly why we have to get going now," Xander countered as he admired her outfit once more, "And _you_ have to get dressed."

Anya sulked.

"You're no fun"

"_I really do believe in you. Let's see if you believe in me"_

"Anya, we've just had fun. A lot of glorious, full-filling fun…. but well, we've gotta be at Buffy's in a little bit now and we don't exactly have time for…. erm, more fun…"

"Fine." Anya accepted huffily, walking back into the bedroom with a pace that showed she was clearly unimpressed and unhappy with his decision.

"_So hurry down the chimney tonight"_

* * *

"_Clarence! I want my life back! Clarence!"_

"Why do we watch this film?" Dawn asked Buffy as the two of them sat on the sofa together watching the black film on the TV screen.

"Because it's Christmas and we have to," Buffy replied, her eyes still on _It's a Wonderful Life_.

"Why?"

"Because…. there's a rule"

"But it's so depressing," Dawn argued, "I mean shouldn't Christmas films be more…. cheery?"

"Well it is at the end…" Buffy reasoned, looking at her little sister, "With the singing and the money collection with the neighbours…" Dawn just continued to stare at her, looking unconvinced. "Fine, we'll turn it off," Buffy agreed, standing up, "You go put some music on"

* * *

"Just made it in time," Xander announced as he and Anya pulled up in his car outside the Summers residence. Giles may live there now, but Xander felt the house would always bear that tag name. 

"Hmm…" Anya looked at him disapprovingly, clearly showing she believed that they would have had time for a little extra, before she stepped out of the car, slamming the car door behind her. Xander just rolled her eyes in acceptance before taking the keys and stepping out of the car himself.

"Come on Anya," He said, walking over to her, to lead her up the path. He kissed her before they started walking and in that small moment she let him now what he'd missed out on at home. When they pulled apart, she was smiling showing she was happy for now.

"Do you think they'll be more gifts?" She asked eagerly as Xander knocked on the door, "For me I mean?"

Xander had quickly realized how fond Anya was of the present scene.

_"I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree. I don't to hang my stocking there upon the fireplace"_

The music poured through, reaching the couple's ears as the door opened to Buffy stood there, smiling at them with a grin that could only ever be worn at Christmas.

"Hey you guys!" She greeted them cheerily, pulling them both in for a hug and so pulling them into the house. After they broke the hug she closed the door. "Merry Christmas"

"Right back atcha," Xander smiled, already feeling the Christmas glow in the house reaching him. He never had Christmas at his own house with his own family, but here he always felt like he should feel at the holiday period. And the group of people that he was celebrating it with felt so much more like his family than his blood kin. He listened to the song carefully until he recognized the lyrics, "I'm surprised by the music choice Giles," Xander commented lightly on the Mariah Carey choice as he watched Giles come into the room and put a pile of plates to be set out on the dining table. Giles merely looked at him silently, the personification of not-happy and left the room just as silently.

Buffy stifled a laugh.

"I'm sorry," She apologized to Xander, "It's just…he's been unhappy with Dawn's choice of music all day…for the periods we didn't have films on that is"

"Pop not his genre preference then?" Xander grinned and Buffy shook her head, trying not to laugh again.

"Definitely not."

"So where is the Dawnster?" Xander asked, looking around just as Anya asked, "Where are the presents?". Luckily Buffy only heard Xander's question.

"Oh she's helping Mom and Giles in the kitchen," Buffy explained, "And by helping I mean hindering." As if to further prove her point the sound of a crash came from the kitchen followed by Dawn's 'whoops'.

* * *

"Well," Joyce said as they all sat around at the table, Christmas lights a glowing, "I think we're just about ready for pie" She got up to clear away the dishes and both Buffy and Giles got up to help. 

"Think I'll be pretty much ready for barf," Xander told her.

"Xander!" Buffy told him off.

"No, no," Xander corrected her assumption, before looking at Joyce to explain, "barf from the eating. Cause all was good and…too much goodness"

"I'm taking it as a compliment," Joyce told him with a smile and Xander nodded in relief.

"Yes, uh," Giles agreed, "Everything was delicious"

"Well you helped," Joyce pointed out as she collected up more plates, "So joint effort on the delicious front"

"I helped too" Dawn said with pout.

"Yes," Buffy agreed, "You helped make the big mess I had to clean up."

Dawn went to argue further, but Tara prevented an argument starting by telling Joyce how lovely she thought everything was as well.

"Yes," Anya agreed chirpily, "I'm going to barf to"

Joyce smiled wryly as she walked past Anya with the dirty dishes in her hand.

"Everyone's so sweet" She commented sarcastically as she, Giles and Buffy headed into the kitchen.

"How about you Will?" Xander asked, "You in the vomit club too?"

"I had too much nog…" Willow commented, sounding stuffed and as though she was fighting the urge to throw up.

"Oh baby you want me to rub your tummy?" Tara asked sympathetically, before looking to the rest of the group, "She likes it when I…." She trailed off as she caught Willow's look, "…stop explaining things…"

"My nog tastes funny," Dawn, commented, looking down at her glass, "I think I got one with rum in it"

"That's bad," Willow told her simply and Xander nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, now Santa's gonna pass you right by you naughty booze hound!"

Both Dawn and Tara giggled.

"Santa always passes me by," Willow pondered aloud, "Something puts him off. Could be the big honkin' menorah."

"Oh," Tara said to Dawn, "Did you write him a letter?"

"What'd you ask for?" Xander asked, leaning across the table slightly to hear the answer.

"Um guys, hello, puberty?" Dawn prompted, "Sorta figured out the whole no-Santa thing"

"That's a myth," Anya stated simply from her seat.

"Exactly," Dawn nodded in agreement.

"No," Anya countered, "I mean it's a myth that it's a myth. There is a Santa Claus"

Everyone was stunned into silence, as they looked at Anya in intrigued surprise. Xander leaned back in his seat to put his arm over Anya's chair, leaning over to his girlfriend.

"The advantage of having a thousand year old girlfriend. Inside scoop"

"There's a Santa Claus?" Tara asked hopefully with a hint of confusion.

"Mm-hmm," Anya nodded, "Been around since like the 1500s…"

"Are they talking about Santa in there?" Joyce asked, as she eavesdropped slightly on the conversation in the dining room.

"Well it is Anya talking," Buffy debated, "So it's definitely of the possible Category: Highly. I'll go get the rest of the plates…" She walked out of the room to listen to the conversation first hand.

Joyce just laughed to herself, fully enjoying the day. Like the majority of people she loved Christmas. The one time in the year where everything seemed normal, happy, perfect. And for them it meant no key-talk, no glory, no vampires, and no patrol. Nothing. Just a normal family. If their dynamic could be called a normal family. Maybe not normal, but certainly a family.

She turned around to head toward the oven where the pie was waiting and walked straight into Giles who was heading to the fridge for the wine.

"Oof!" The collision caused an involuntary sound of shock to escape from her mouth. After she got her bearings she smiled up at him, "There's never any mistletoe around when you need it is there?"

"We need mistletoe?" Giles questioned with a raised eyebrow and Joyce smirked.

"Not necessarily," She told him before the two shared a kiss. "Definitely not necessary" Joyce commented with smile and then, jobs to complete, they walked in the directions they had originally been heading.

As she reached the oven, she already knew what had happened by looking through the window, before she had even opened the door. It had burnt again.

She put on the oven mitts and pulled the dessert out just as Buffy walked back into the room.

"Damn it! I hate this oven. It burnt" She placed the burnt food on the kitchen island.

"Oh no," Buffy disagreed as she headed over to look, plates now deposited elsewhere, "It's just blackened you know. It's Cajun pie."

"Shall I open another?" Giles asked, holding up a bottle of wine and Joyce turned to look in consideration. She already felt quite tipsy- she'd always been a bit of a lightweight- sometimes a blessing, other times very much a curse.

"Oh I don't know…do you think we dare?" Joyce challenged him, knowing fine well where things could end up for the two of them if they got too drunk and well…they had to keep up some form of grown-ups-don't-have-a-sex-life façade for the group. Buffy however, answered her question.

"As long as you stay away from the Band Candy…" She thought for a moment, "Or resist any Band Candy activities then I am cool with anything"

At that Giles shrugged at Joyce and opened the bottle of wine. Joyce returned to looking at the pie with a sigh.

"What are we gonna do about this?" She asked, hoping either would have suggestions.

"Simple," Buffy told her, picking up a knife and heading over, "Look all we have to do is cut off a little bit of the burnt-"

She broke off for as she began cutting the pie it leant over the edge and smashed on the floor.

"Buffy!" Joyce shouted more out of shock than annoyance.

"Sorry…" Buffy apologized kneeling down to help her Mom pick up the pieces of the completely destroyed pie and throw them in the bin.

"It's okay," Joyce told her, "But what can I do now?"

"Ice cream?" Buffy suggested lamely, "Simple and already made by the supermarket"

"Ooh," Joyce said, an idea forming in her mind, "Do we have any candy? Like bars?"

Since Giles was nearest the fridge he pulled it open and looked in. He spotted three bars, only wrapped in silver foil, on the second shelf.

"Yes, uh three bars"

"I'll only need half a bar at the most." Joyce told him and he got out one bar for her. It was then that Buffy realized what she was doing.

"You're not doing the thing you used to do for me and Dawn as kids are you?" She checked, "Ice cream with the chocolate flakes and melted chocolate topping?" Buffy's mouth was already watering at the memory and even more so once her Mom nodded in confirmation.

* * *

"It's not pie, but it looks damn good," Xander announced as their dishes were set in front of all of them. 

"Ooh yay!" Dawn exclaimed excitedly, already picking up her spoon, "Chocorama ice cream"

"The appealing dessert has a name?" Anya asked, before looking at Xander, already scooping up some of the dessert in her silver spoon, "How come we've never heard of it before?"

"It's actually a Mom thing," Buffy explained, "But when Dawn was like six she decided to name it and it kinda stuck…for her…"

Dawn frowned at her sister but it soon became a smile as she began to eat the dessert, her tongue savoring the rewarding taste of the melted chocolate.

Silence fell on the group, Christmas music playing quietly in the background (non-Mariah and non-pop) being the only sound, as they ate their dessert.

In a short while, when they were nearly all finished, Joyce found herself constantly glancing over her spoon to Giles next to her. He returned the gaze, a predatory gleam in his eyes. Acting on impulse she scooped up another spoonful of ice cream and lent across the table to him. He took the spoonful in his mouth, but as she pulled the spoon away he pulled her to him quickly, kissing her, the ice cream pouring and melting in both of their mouths as they continued to kiss, Joyce, for convenience and appeal, having moved to sit slightly on Giles knee.

"Eww! Mom! Giles!" Buffy exclaimed, viewing the display in disgust and the couple pulled away from each other at the sound of her voice. Joyce looked over at her eldest daughter as she sheepishly swallowed the ice cream. "God…I can't believe you. Gross much?"

"Buffy it wasn't that much…" Joyce defended herself and Giles as she reluctantly sat back in her seat. She looked at Giles and rolled her eyes- while Buffy had become so very mature, there were times when she acted ridiculously childish.

"I liked the chocolate," Xander commented lazily as he looked down at his empty bowl, completely unaware of the exchange that had just happened, "There was no bad there"

"It was good. I want more." Anya said with an enthusiastic smile, "Is there any more?"

"Only if I make some," Joyce told her and when Anya looked at her expectantly she shook her head, "N-no…uh, Anya" She tried to make the negative response sound forceful, but failed miserably as she was distracted by Giles' hand wandering teasingly up her leg.

"_Xander_!" Willow giggled and Xander looked over at in confusion.

"What? What's the sitch? Why laugh at the Xan-Man?"

Willow continued to giggle girlishly but pointed out her own cheek. Xander put his hand to his own right cheek and felt a sticky substance. Pulling his palm away he saw melted chocolate. He tried to rub at it, but it made the spill spread and Willow giggled more. Buffy grinned at her hyperactive friend. To save Xander's face-literally- Joyce silently handed him a clean napkin and he rubbed the chocolate successfully away.

"Oh-kay…" Dawn commented slowly as she stood up, viewing the giggling group. She began to pick up the adults' glasses, "no more rum-filled nog or wine for any of you" They all pouted at her and her Mom even tried to snatch the glass of red wine back, but did so with out much effort so showed she wasn't really too bothered. "And we're going to do something simple and innocent…like a board game"

* * *

"_Run, run Rudolph! Santa's gotta make it to town! Santa make him hurry, tell him he can take the freeway down!"_

The Chuck Berry Christmas song blasted out of the CD player as the group sat around…. a game of monopoly. There had been just enough pieces for everyone to play and for one person to be banker. Joyce had insisted on being banker as she had claimed it was the only way she could ensure Buffy and Dawn didn't cheat against each other, either by taking money for themselves or taking it away from the other.

"Can't we play Life?" Anya asked for the fourteenth time.

"Why do you wanna play Life so much?" Buffy asked.

"Because in that game she always wins," Dawn told her.

"And in this one I'm _losing,_" Anya whined, "I can't even afford myself any properties and Mayfair's completely out of my league." She looked at Giles in annoyance, "And I keep landing on your hotel-ridden places" She looked at Joyce, "Loan me some cash," She whispered urgently, clearly taking the game desperately seriously.

_"Said Santa to a girl what would it please you most to get? She said a little baby doll that can cry, sleep, drink and wet and then away went Rudolph whizzing like a saber jet!"_

"Damn!" Anya exclaimed, "I landed on the straight to jail box again"

* * *

_"Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light. From now on our troubles will be out of sight"_

Sure they were just in their living room. Sure there was only one other couple dancing besides them. Sure the music was only pouring out of their simple CD player. But slow dancing was always romantic and always fun. Joyce rested her head on Giles' chest as they swayed to the music slowly. Her eyes closed as the exhaustion from the day's events seemed to take over, but she still kept dancing, her arms wrapped around him and his arms wrapped around her.

_"Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Make the Yuletide gay. From now on our troubles will be miles away."_

Anya and Xander, the other couple, also danced together, swaying slowly to the music. It was the only time Xander had known Anya not to comment on what was going on as she just danced silently in his arms, a blissful and peaceful smile on her face. Xander could smell her shampoo- strawberries-, her perfume- berries, and her- apples…it has always been apples and it had always been pure Anya. All those scents just made Xander happy, at peace with everything for once. When Anya was in his arms, he had never been surer everything was going to be okay.

_"Here we are as in olden days, happy golden days of yore. Faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us once more"_

Willow and Tara sat on the sofa while Buffy and Dawn sat on the floor at their feet. They had enjoyed watching the couples dancing for a small while, before turning to other things. Willow threw mini marshmallows at Dawn who tried to catch them in her mouth and both of them got more and more giggly with each passing marshmallow.

Buffy and Tara just talked. Nothing major, just very casually and lazily setting the world to rights with their amusing comments. Buffy loved this. She'd never had this in L.A, even before she became the Slayer. It had been a different type of group of friends then. Not once that lasted. Just a popularity circle. Instead of the Cordettes it had been the Buffettes. These, these were a family of friends. Buffy remembered the words she had said to Tara's, the Tara in front of her who had become such a close friend in such a short time, she remembered what she had said to Tara's Dad. 'We're family'. And now as she sat surrounded by the people she loved the most at a time in the year when that's exactly what everyone should have, she never felt the statement was more true.

_"Through the years we all will be together if the Fates allow. Hang a shining star upon the highest bough. And have yourself a Merry little Christmas now"_

Tara, Willow, Xander and Anya headed down the path away from 1630, reluctant to leave but knowing they had to anyway. It was well into the early hours of Boxing Day now.

"Bye!"

"See you!"

"All the best!"

"Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!"

"Same time! Same place!" Xander called back before speaking directly to Joyce, "Same dessert!"


	12. Triangle

g120-thanks for review and yes of course there would be an chrimbo ep at midsummer. It's like a halfway-to-christmas celebration. plus it fit in the timeline...haha

zigpal- yes everyone seems to be commenting on this christmas in june deal. haha. Loved my pressy tho :-D. haha. Glad you liked the Christmas sceneyness.

Rabidreject- Aah, I love your complimentary words like wow and outstanding. They give me such a happy. :-D. haha. Glad you thought this chapter was fun- something that you say's missing from other fanfics so even more woo and hoo there hehe- and that you enjoyed it. Thank you.:-)

* * *

Well, tis a bit episode centric this...mainly because well, Giles was off galavanting in England...

* * *

"I know…" Buffy agreed as she and Giles stood in the training room after…well, training, "It's just I trust these Watchers as far as…._ you_ could throw them" 

"Ditto," Buffy looked up to see her Mother in the doorway. She should technically be at the Gallery but as Giles was going to England the very next day she'd decided to take some time off for the day. Buffy wasn't sure whether this was a good thing or a bad thing- she loved her Mom, but sometimes it seemed like she was in her life too much. Yet, after the recent scare Buffy felt she should appreciate any time she had with her Mom and so she didn't say anything about how Joyce was spending her spare time.

"I'm just freaked that they could get any information that might lead to Dawn…" Buffy added worriedly and she sat down on the bench, her head in her hands. Giles and Joyce came to sit down on either side of her.

"Personally I don't think they're bright enough to make that connection," Joyce joked.

"Truly, Buffy, if there was an alternative," Giles added, "If, if the Initiative were still around, I'd consider using them, but they're gone…and then uh, Riley, was uh the last link…we had to the government…" He looked at Buffy's sad expression, "I'm sorry, I didn't meant to-"

"No it's okay," Buffy assured him as her Mom put her arm around her supportively- giving her a hug when she knew she needed one, "You can say his name"

"You're a strong girl Buffy," Her Mom told her, "You'll get through this. I know you will."

"I know," Buffy agreed, visibly putting on a brave face, "I mean these things happen, right?"

"Afraid so," Giles admitted.

"I mean two people who can seem very right for each other at the time just eventually take different paths," Joyce told comfortingly, "Everything happens for a reason and maybe you and Riley had just…"

"Got as much as we could from each other?" Buffy smiled weakly, "I wanna believe that. I really do. Coz that would mean I was free to move on. Be free Buffy. But it doesn't feel like it was"

"Well, maybe," Giles suggested, "That's why things happened as they did."

"Yeah," Joyce agreed, "You went your separate ways before it got to the horrible painful part of erm, well…not being able to stand the sight of one another really"

Buffy nodded in quiet acceptance, knowing they had a point and what they said made sense. She then frowned in puzzlement, before looking at them both.

"Okay can you two stop being my parents? It's really freaky," She jumped up from her seat between them to look back at the couple. Her Mother looked slightly confused and a little hurt and Buffy hurried to allay her concerns "Well not so freaky in your case because, well, you _are_ my Mom but…" She walked over to the door.

"I don't know whether to be insulted or complimented by that exchange," Giles commented lightly to Joyce.

"Well," Buffy said turning back to them, "If your going to England Giles helps us find more information about Glory…. then I'm thrilled to have you gone"

* * *

"You're going away for a _week?"_ Anya squealed excitedly, "That's _great_!" 

"Yes," Giles agreed sardonically, "Everybody seems delighted about it"

"I'm not," Joyce told him honestly.

"Well, why aren't you going with him?" Willow inquired with a smile, "Like a trip? Do the couple thing again"

"Yeah," Tara agreed, "A trip to England would be so exotic…" She trailed off as she glanced at Giles in realization, "Unless of course you're English…"

"Yes, exotic," Joyce agreed with a chipper nod before adding, "And then they try to kill you"

"Uh, yes," Giles agreed, looking to the whole group, "Considering the events of the, ah, previous trip, Joyce won't be accompanying me on this trip for…well, for safety actually" He admitted.

"I get to take care of the store right?" Anya checked eagerly and Giles looked completely alarmed by the prospect.

"You? Ah, w-well, it's quite a lot for one person to take care of. Well, I-I mean, the trash men, for example, I mean, they, they, they've been making such a mess in the back alley, the recycling people can't get in there to collect. Well, somebody has to talk to them."

"Look, don't worry about the shop," Buffy assured him, "We'll take care of it. We can open and close, we'll deal with everyone"

"We can come by in between classes!" Willow told Giles enthusiastically, "Usually I use that time to copy over my class notes with a system of different colored pens but I've been told that's you know…insane"

"I said 'quirky'" Tara corrected her with a smile.

"Hello!" Anya yelled at Buffy and Willow, looking extremely annoyed, "I work here! I can take care of everything!"

"Yeah, Anya can do it," Xander assured him, but didn't even look up from the book he was reading.

"Thanks sweetie," Anya patted Xander on the shoulder kindly, "Well said"

"Um, Anya," Giles tried to think of a way to say what needed to be said without hurting Anya's feelings which, considering she was an ex-demon, were very sensitive, "While I completely trust you to uh, uh, to take care of the inventory and the um, money…dealing with people requires a certain…uh, finesse"

"I have _finesse_!" Anya insisted, "I have finesse coming out of my bottom! I can completely lie to health inspector. I can, you know, distract him with coy smiles and, and bribe him with money and goods"

"See there? She'll be great," Xander, yet again, did not look up from the book he was reading.

"Don't worry Giles," Willow said confidently, "I'll help her take care of everything. It'll be ship-shape, better yet, it'll be shop-shape." She smiled brightly while Anya just sat there frowning in disapproval.

"Xander, she's talking to Giles like I'm not here. Make her stop"

Giles tuned out of the argument and turned to Joyce, saying thoughtfully:

"Maybe I'd better call the airline…schedule an earlier flight back…"

Joyce looked back at Willow hitting Xander on the arm, encouraging him to tell Anya off.

"That might be a good idea," Joyce told him, "But I'll, erm, I'll check up on them. I'll come by everyday when I've finished at the gallery…you know, just to make sure," She assured him, "But I'm sure there's nothing to be worried about"

* * *

"No, everything's been fine, just like I told you it would be," Joyce said over her cell phone as she parked her car on the street and got out, closing and locking the door one-handedly as her other hand held the phone to her ear. "Mm-hm. Just a little arguing between them is all, but nothing major really…I miss you too. The Council not being too deathly violent I hope?" She asked Giles on the other end casually as she walked up the street, "Good. So found out anything at all yet?" She waited for his answer, "I should be surprised but you know…I'm not. You'd think they have something though," Giles then inevitably returned the conversation back to the subject of the Magic Box and she was glad he couldn't see her roll her eyes, "What did I tell you? Everything's fine. I'm even walking up to it now. Everything's going great. Not a single-" She reached the shop door or at least where the shop door used to be. The remains of it were smashed and lay about on the floor at the front of the store and the entire shop seemed to be destroyed and smashed to pieces. Willow and Anya were stood behind the counter together looking very shocked but also very angry at each other, "hitch…." Joyce trailed off as the phrase Famous Last Words came to mind, "I gotta go" She cut off Giles' "Joyce-" by pressing end call abruptly as she stepped into the store slowly as she inspected the mess with her mouth open in disbelief. 

"I may be wrong…" She said slowly as she headed over to the counter and the two girls, carefully stepping over the pieces of wood and debris, "but the store doesn't _usually_ look like this…. what happened?"

"Willow did something wrong," Anya explained simply and Willow turned to look at her angrily.

"What?! It was your damn nattering that interrupted the spell!"

"Well, I wouldn't have had to have interrupted if you hadn't been stealing the merchandise!"

"I wasn't _stealing_! God, lay off will you?"

"Plus, you should be prepared for a spell like that. You don't even know what you're doing half the time do you?"

"Willow! Anya!" The two girls jumped at the sound of their names being shouted and looked at Joyce in silence as she asked them calmly, "Now I will ask again…what happened?"

The two girls looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Joyce with guilty expressions.

* * *

"Yeah, hi, Carole?" Joyce greeted as someone picked up the phone in the office at the gallery. She was on her cell again as she drove Anya and Willow, who were in the back seat, to follow the trail of the troll they had both released loose on Sunnydale through their combined efforts of arguing. For a moment Joyce contemplated the fact this was some abnormal level of normalcy for her now, before returning her attention back to the phone call, "Yeah, I'm not gonna be able to make it back in this afternoon. Why?" Joyce repeated her friend's question, "Because, because…" What the hell was she supposed to say? "Because there was…a burglary! Yes, yes, at the store. A burglary…. so…you're sure? _Thank_ you." She hung up; relieved her colleague had believed her. 

"Stop it! You've got the wrong sheets!" Anya whined.

"Would you stop that?" Willow asked her desperately, "You're so distracting and annoying. Just let me do my work"

"Yeah, well you _were_ the one that messed up…" Anya reasoned.

"I didn't mess up! I was doing _fine_ and then _you_ messed it up for me!"

"No, the whole troll-release thing was what you did!"

"_I _did?!" Willow questioned incredulously as she continued rifling through the papers, "No it was definitely a we thing…or a you thing. It definitely feels like a you thing!"

"How could it be? I wasn't even casting the spell!"

"You two just be quiet!" Joyce put on her Mom Voice and the two fell silent, feeling like they were two naughty kids being told off by a parent for messing on the neighbour's lawn, "Now stop arguing about who made it happen and find a way together to send whatever it is you_ both_ summoned, back wherever the hell it came from, okay?" The two remained silent and Joyce pulled her eyes away from the road for a moment to look back at the two of them "_Okay?"_

"Fine" Anya grumbled.

"No problem. I can do that." Willow told Joyce with a smile, trying to prove to Anya childishly that she was the more mature one.

* * *

"The Bronze," Willow murmured as they all rushed out of Joyce's car, having followed the Troll's path all the way here, "Of course. It's _always_ The Bronze" 

"He's probably destroying the premises," Anya stated, "Eating a few customers. And it's all-" Anya trailed off from what she was about to say as Joyce shot her a steely glare.

They walked through the door of the Bronze to see the troll stood in the middle of the room for all to see, and they looked to see Spike and Xander heading over.

"Anya and Willow stood side by side," Xander commented before pointing at Joyce, "And you're here. This can only mean one thing," He turned around to jab a finger in the direction of the troll, "One of you is responsible for _that_"

"Since when did I become the symbol of disastrous happenings?" Joyce questioned him, sounding offended.

"Oh you're not," Xander told her simple, "You're the symbol that somebody else is." At this he turned to look at Willow and Anya pointed and they both barely caught his eye as they sheepishly returned to looking at the spell book in Willow's hands.

"I wish Buffy were here," Willow said worriedly as she flipped the pages and at that exact moment Tara and Buffy walked in through the door behind them.

"Hey" Buffy greeted them all, before looking over at the monstrosity in the room, "Huh. Troll."

"I wish I had a million dollars," Willow smiled and as everyone looked at her she shrugged, "Just checking"

"What's going on?" Buffy asked, looking at the troll, "Where'd he come from?"

"_Please_ don't ask that question," Joyce begged her, knowing it would only spark another argument between Anya and Willow.

"Hello Buffy…" Spike said in a nervous tone akin to Giles and both Buffy and Joyce looked over at him surprise, but Buffy looked uninterested and confused while Joyce looked confused but intrigued.

"So who did this?"

"It-" Willow looked over at Joyce, "It's, uh, very complex"

"But we can fix it," Anya assured Buffy, "Willow say the spell"

"Uh, let the conjuring-"

"STOP!" The troll bellowed and Willow stomped her foot in frustration.

"No one let's me finish!"

"You told the witch to do that Anyanka," The troll spoke directly to Anya and she looked alarmed at being addressed by him, "You seem determined to put an end to all my fun! Just like you always did when we were dating!"

Everyone spun around to stare at Anya in confusion as she stood there looking aghast at the troll. She remembered who he was now…Olaf.

"You dated him?" Xander asked in disgust.

"You dated a troll?" Both Buffy and Joyce asked in synchronization, as they looked at Anya in sheer disbelief.

"And we're what? Surprised by this?" Willow asked them, always prepared never to be surprised by Anya and her life.

"Well, he wasn't a troll then," Anya defended herself, "You know he was just a big dumb guy…and well, you know he cheated on me…"

"So you…turned him…into a…troll?" Joyce asked slowly, not quite believing what she was asking. Anya shrugged.

"It was actually…." She looked embarrassed, "How I got the job as a Vengeance Demon"

"I did not cheat!" Olaf protested, "Not in my heart. It was only one wench! I, I had had a great deal of mead! Next thing I know I'm a troll! You did this Anyanka! You will die for this!" Olaf roared loudly in anger and smashed one of the tables with his hammer and the group winced in shock.

"But you seem to enjoy the...uh, the being a troll" Xander pointed out weakly.

Olaf paused in his tirade to shrug in acceptance.

"I adjusted and then what happened? Witches." He gestured accusingly with his hammer at both Willow and Joyce as the two looked over the spell book for a way to get rid of him and Joyce looked over at Olaf in surprise.

"What? Me? I'm not-"

"She's not a witch." Buffy told him confidently, "Really not" The troll seemed to have heavily negative feelings towards witches and while Willow was fairly able to defend herself, magickally at least, her Mother wasn't and so Buffy rushed to clear up the situation.

"It does not matter- she works with the witch." Olaf pointed out, "So she must die also. As will you."

Buffy looked at Willow in panic

"Will, the spell again. Please"

"Oh, uh," Willow looked down at the spell book and read aloud, "Let the conjuring be undone! Return the beast to native form! Keep it far from us and ours as long as my voice shall sound!"

The group waited expectantly but nothing happened.

"Haha!" Olaf laughed loudly, "It did not work!"

"You must have said it wrong," Anya told her and Willow threw her a dirty look.

"I didn't say it wrong!" She insisted, aggravated by Anya's tone.

Olaf lunged forward to attack Willow but Buffy jumped in front and delivered a sharp and powerful kick to his chest. She drove him back with punch after kick after punch after kick and Joyce raised an eyebrow in question as she saw Spike run up behind Buffy to help. Considering he claimed to want her daughter dead on a regular basis, this was an extremely odd occurrence.

While Buffy tried to beat down Olaf, the troll kept fighting successfully back and he used his hammer to smash away the pillars holding up the second floor of the Bronze.

Xander protectively put his arms around Anya as they cowered in the corner as the Bronze started to shake, pieces of debris starting to fall around them.

Willow and Joyce hurried over to a more sheltered place as though it were a normal Californian earthquake rather than a giant troll destroying the club.

Suddenly the entire upper level of the Bronze came crashing down, the railings viciously swinging at the customers. Some of the clubbers who had been on the upper level tried to hold on, swinging wildly, before their grip slipped and they crashed to the floor among the other injured people. Buffy barely had time to cover her head with her arms protectively before a huge piece of the Bronze came tumbling down on top of her heavily, knocking and pinning her to the floor.

"Willow? Are you alright?" Joyce asked as the dust from the collapse cleared. A large beam now blocked the alcove they had been stood in and the two would have to climb over it to get out.

"Yeah, I'm," She coughed, "I'm fine," She coughed again, waving the dust away. "How about you?"

"I'm okay," Joyce, told her, before turning to look at the beam that blocked their path.

"We're gonna have to climb over," Willow summarised, pushing Joyce in front of her, "You first"

Joyce nodded in acceptance and pressed her right hand against the wall to balance herself. However the moment she did, a shooting pain shot up her arm and she immediately pulled it away, holding it in her other arm. If she had to guess, she'd say she had sprained her wrist. Looking at the bruising and swollenness she thought it was very probably, "Okay, maybe not completely okay," She admitted, "Why is it _always_ my arm?" She questioned no one in particular in exasperation, before sighing in acceptance and using her other arm to keep her balance, hopped over the beam, followed quickly by Willow.

"Mom, Will," Buffy ran over to them, wiping dust off herself from where the upper floor of the Bronze had landed on her. "Where'd he go?" She asked, but before they could answer, she noticed her Mom was favoring her right wrist. "What happened to your hand?"

"It's nothing…._ much_." Joyce told her feeling very much like she was playing in a role reversal. She didn't like it. "I uh I think the troll left"

"Yeah," Willow nodded in agreement, "Trashed the place and left. Just your average day in Sunnydale"

"Right," Buffy nodded, a plan already forming in her mind. She turned to Xander, "Xander, follow him. Anya, Willow- go to the magic shop, find a spell that will _actually_ stop him" She looked around at all the victims on the floor, "Mom, Tara- take care of…well everything here. I'll erm…" She seemed to debate for a moment about whether to stay and help at the Bronze or to go along with Xander. She chose the latter, "I'll follow with Xander"

As the rest of the group left, both Joyce and Tara helped the victims they could along with the help of the few people who had escaped unharmed. Emergency Services had already been called and help was on its way.

Spike carefully tended to a woman who had been trapped under the fallen floor, placing some soft material under her head to make her more comfortable. He didn't know whether Buffy was in the building to see him anymore or not, but if she wasn't, he was hoping word of his good deeds would reach her.

"N-not that it's a bad thing…but why are y-you doing that?"

Spike looked up to see Tara there, watching him intently.

"Just making the girl warm is all" He said simply and Tara nodded, but an inquisitive frown lined her forehead.

"But you've never done it before," The look on her face now Spike could only describe as 'knowing'.

"I, well, she-"

"Are you doing it because of Buffy?" Spike looked in the direction of the question and saw Joyce stood on the other side of him. The look on her face was similar to Tara's though it held a touch of concern. Spike exhaled in annoyance and frustration as he stood up and looked at the two women on either side of him.

"What the bloody hell is this? Spanish bleedin' Inquisition? I was just helping out for a change all right? Nothing more to it." He stormed off, "_Jesus…"_

Tara and Joyce shared a look that clearly said that they both knew there was something more to it but weren't quite sure what.

* * *

"That's it," Joyce announced as Giles helped carry in the tray which held teapot and cups over to the dining room table. "No more trips to England for you." She looked down at her right wrist briefly. It was only a sprain and hadn't been badly hurt, but it was bandaged, "Whether I come with you or _not_- I get hurt" 

"Yes," Giles agreed sincerely with concern in his voice, "I dread to think what would have happened if I'd have stayed away longer," He and Joyce took a seat at the table where Buffy was already sat.

"Well…" Buffy struggled to think of a more positive scenario, "We would have had time to clear up all the evidence and you could have lived in blissful ignorance"

"I have _seen_ the state of the shop Buffy," Giles told her as he poured himself a cup of tea, "I doubt you would have cleared it up in time"

"Well, Willow could have used magicks…." Buffy suggested and Giles rolled his eyes.

"Yes, because we always know that to be a success,"

"So," Buffy said, clearing her throat to change topic, "You were saying about how the Council knew a big fat lot of nothing?"

"Oh, erm, yes," Giles nodded, putting his cup of tea down on the table after taking a sip. "Well, they don't know anything yet…but they're going to look into it. So…"

"Just as long as they don't find out…" Joyce sighed as she thought over everything once again, "It's just- I don't want anything leading them to Dawn"

"Well considering a lot of their theories so far seem to be nonsensical the chances are very low"

"But what would they do if they found out?" Buffy asked insistently, "What would they do?"

Giles didn't have an answer.

"I don't know. I really don't know"

The three were oblivious to Dawn listening in on the stairs.


	13. Checkpoint

Zigpal-Thanks for review, claps, all. glad you liked the chapter and that you thought I minimilized blah, hehe. And well, for this chapter Joyce does have some anger towards Quentin and co. hehe. It's pretty much left over anger from _every_ time she's come across the council. haha. Helpless, Who are you?, London...she's not havin much luck with them is she?

And hey- the rest of you out there. Reviews guys? ;-)

* * *

A/N: Took a lot longer to update because well, as irony would have it, just as I finished writing the opening scene for this chapter what happened to Joyce at the gallery happened to me. My Cocorific document just disappeared completely. No record of it ever having existed. That was the opening sequence of Checkpoint gone and all my notes for each chapter all the way up to Tabula Rasa gone. Irony is ironic that way- Let's just say I am now _extremely_ glad I'm not killing Joyce off in this fic. I am not ashamed to admit that when this document disaster happened I actually cried. Even my back-up copies were gone. Just like it never existed. So, took longer to update as I ended up writing all my notes again. Or at least half of them. The chapters aren't detailed out like they were originally but the gist is there. I want to kill Microsoft for this. Giles is right. Computers are a stupid fad and should be destroyed presently. Bring back typewriters I say (And the abacus- you just don't see enough abaci). Also, season 6 plans –wise there is some definitely off-canon stuff happening….so anyway, on with Checkpoint. A

* * *

After the weeks of waiting the shipment had finally arrived at the gallery. Twice. Yes, after waiting for so long Joyce had discovered she had been sent two of what had been ordered.

"But I only ordered one set,"

"Well, it says two on here," The man tapped his clipboard. He was the deliveryman, but he probably had a more professional-sounding, politically correct title for his job, but right now, Joyce, in her annoyance, viewed him as just a glorified postman.

"I don't care what- give me that," Joyce snatched the clipboard out of his chubby hands to get a closer look at the details written down. Sure enough, she was listed for two shipments. She held up the clipboard to him and pointing at the second list of items, "I don't where this has all come from, but I didn't order these."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, of course I'm sure," Joyce, insisted, not believing he could actually ask that question, "Why on earth would I order-" She looked to the list of items for an example, "one set of antique cameos and also import another _strikingly similar_ set? Why? Why on earth would I do that?"

"You could have done it to sell more,"

"But I wouldn't order them both at the same time!" Joyce exclaimed, "I'd wait to see how the first set went first!"

"Look, we got two sets of orders here" He pointed at the clipboard, "Both of 'em with _your_ name on the paper. So why don't you just sign?"

"But I don't want those," Joyce pointed out the crates of extra items, "I don't _need_ those"

"Look lady," the deliveryman sighed, "I don't know a da Vinci from a de Caprio- I don't really know squat about the art business,"

"Clearly," Joyce mumbled but not loud enough for him to hear as he carried on talking.

"Alls I do know is, is that there are two shipments here- both for you so why don't you just sign and let me do my job?"

"Fine," Joyce grumbled snatching a pen off him. As she scribbled her signature at the bottom of the page she hoped the cameos were going to be more of a success than she originally thought and the same went for the rest of the items, "Fine" She repeated with controlled anger in her voice as she shoved the clipboard and pen back in his arms and turned on her heel, leaving the assistants and trainees to deal with the rest as she felt if she stayed dealing with the task personally any longer she would implode.

She walked through the gallery, heels clicking, and entered the office more loudly than she intended, her bad mood revealing itself. Vicky and Jem who had both been working on the computer in the room looked up in her direction.

"Problem?" Vicky asked casually, knowing full well that there was.

"Nothing that can't be dealt with," Joyce told her, refusing to let the issue with the delivery win.

"Well, that's better than we're doing," Jem told her and Vicky hit him on the arm as though telling him to be quiet.

"What do you mean?" Joyce asked and Vicky smiled at her as though really not wanting to talk anymore.

"It's just a little thing really," She told her, "We just may have a few…erm, problems"

"What 'problems'?" Joyce asked suspiciously.

"Well, erm, some files have erm," Vicky glanced back at the computer screen for a moment before looking back at Joyce, "become unreachable," She pulled a 'who'd a thunk it' face but Joyce wasn't convinced by the light-heartedness, the events so far having made her a cynic for the day.

"What do you mean 'unreachable?'"

"Well, erm…some files have for some unknown reason become corrupt and just…" She laughed nervously, "Disappeared" She waved her arm to both illustrate the point and make it seem like it was no big deal.

"Dis-a-peared?" Joyce asked, frustration creeping into her voice as she stretched out every syllable of the word.

"Yeah…" Vicky admitted, looking back at the computer and clicking a few times with the mouse as though to further prove what a problem there was, "You know maybe we should get that Ted guy back in, I mean he set it all up and-"

"No!" Joyce's protest came out more forceful than she intended and both Jem and Vicky jumped a little, "What I mean is uh-" Joyce paused, "Wait, which files?"

Vicky bit her lip as she looked to Jem for help, wondering how the hell she was going to tell her boss the invoices and inventory lists for the past month were completely gone.

* * *

They hadn't been able to recover any of the files. Any of them. They had simply ceased to exist. When they had David, the I.T technician have a close look at it he had told her that there wasn't even a history of them. It was as though they'd never been recorded. He suggested it was due to a bug of some kind, but a check had revealed there wasn't a single virus on the computer. So in summary? It had been simply the worst luck.

And Joyce's day seemed to be continuing in that vein. After closing up the gallery at just after half-past five she had gotten in her car and drove in the direction of the Magic Box, rather than home, knowing that Dawn was staying over at friend's and both Giles and Buffy were more likely to be at the shop than the house. It was just after six and she was still in traffic.

A traffic jam. Just what she needed. When did Sunnydale even _have _traffic jams? She'd been _not_ moving for the past twenty minutes and she was bordering on claustrophobic. She was tapping her fingers impatiently on the wheel when she saw the cars ahead finally begin to move. She sighed in relief, but just as she started to drive on, the car wouldn't go anywhere. In fact it stopped working at all as the engine died out. Joyce looked at the dashboard in disbelief as though that alone would tell her why the rest of the car wasn't working. Was this really fair? Really? As she leant over her seat to reach her bag and grab her cell to do one of the things she hated the most- call the AA team- she heard the beep of car horns from the drivers behind her. Like that was going to get her moving. It was as if they assumed she was staying where she was by choice. Were they insane?

As she dialled the number for the emergency repair team she thought to herself about how this day couldn't possibly get any worse.

* * *

She finally made it the Magic Box at seven o clock. If they were a normal couple, Giles would be home by now and closed up shop, but since their lives were very far from normal and Glory was a recent mad and powerful addition- the likelihood that the entire _group_ would still be at the store was very high. And sure enough as Joyce walked to the storefront, the lights were on and people were inside.

Opening the door she saw the people weren't the usual crowd. She saw Giles and Buffy- pleasant sight in comparison to everyone else around them. Quentin Travers sat at a table, clearly trying to look superior and numerous Watchers hovered about him. Joyce took heart in the fact that she couldn't see Weatherby and co amongst them, but it was a very slight and small upside. In fact, after her extremely bad day she decided she would really rather not deal with them right now and leave them up to Buffy and Giles. How could a day be _so_ bad?

"It's all just a bad, bad, _bad_ dream…" She murmured to herself going to step back out of the store, but Travers stopped her.

"Mrs Summers," he greeted her and she was forced to turn around to face him, fake smiles and all.

"Hi...Mr Travers"

"Yes, well, uh," Travers looked at Giles, but nodded in the direction of Buffy, "Resemblance is striking sometimes, isn't it?" He asked, referring to Buffy's own entrance mere moments before.

"Yes," Giles agreed with a slightly patronizing tone, "Well, that does tend to happen between Mothers and daughters"

As Joyce went to stand beside both Giles and Buffy, the tension in the room increased to the point of slice-it-with-a-knife thickness as a silence fell over the room. Rather than deal with the issue of the events from the previous year, the obvious reason for the sudden silence, Travers decided to continue with what he had been saying before Joyce walked into the store.

"As I was saying Buffy, Glory is stronger than you. She's a more powerful instrument if you will. We can help you. We have information that can help. Pass the review and we give it to you without reservation. Fail the review, either through incompetence or be resisting our recommendations…"

Angrily, Giles stepped towards him.

"Resisting your recommendations? She fails if we don't do whatever you say! How much under your thumb do you think we are?"

"How much do you want our help?" Travers challenged and as Giles violently headed for him two other Watchers restrained him.

"She's not your bloody instrument and you have no right to do any of this!"

"Giles!" Buffy exclaimed and Giles reluctantly stepped back from Travers and shook off the Watchers holding his arms.

"I understand you think this is unfair," Travers told them but the matching look on the three's faces showed they believed anything but of him, "But there are factors which should motivate you to go along with the review. Now I don't want to do this, but obviously we could shut this place down permanently."

"You can't do that," Buffy outright denied, "You don't have the power"

"Of course we do," Travers stated simply, the lack of threat in his voice making it sound all the more threatening, "and a great deal more. In fact, if you insist on fighting us, we'll arrange to have Mr Giles deported within the day. Never set foot in this country again"

"You can't do that," Joyce argued strongly, "You don't have the right"

"We have the right and the power to do so Mrs Summers"

"No, I mean," She looked to Giles with apologetic look for a moment, "I don't want to put a formal contracty slant on our marriage but," She looked back to Travers, "We get married and it's well…instant green card. Even if you deport him we could get married in England and then he's back in the country" Buffy looked at her Mom in realization before looking at Travers with an expression of resolve.

"We can put a stop to that as well, I assure you," Travers told her.

"_What?_" Joyce asked in horrified disbelief.

"We can prevent the entire marriage if you force us to do so," Travers told her seriously, "If Buffy refuses to co-operate, neither of you will see Mr Giles again" The gravity of the entire situation settled on the three of them and they stood there in frustrated and angry silence, "Am I making myself clear?"

* * *

"It's a power play that's what it is. It's about who has the power,"

"I'm guessing they do," Buffy guessed as she sat at the table in the Magic Box. Travers and the rest of the Watchers' Council entourage were gone and now as she sat at the table, Giles leant against a nearby shelf, clearly as frustrated as her and her Mother who presently was pacing slightly near the table, "Big power outage in Buffy country?"

"I should have set you loose on them. That's what I should have done," Giles said forcefully and Buffy shook her head.

"Giles, that Travers guy is like sixty, I can't hit him," She paused in thought for a moment, "Wait, can I?"

"Have you ever noticed his teeth?" Joyce asked, stopping her pacing to walk over to the table, "They're like tiny little rodent teeth,"

"Um, well" Giles started, but Joyce carried on.

"Horrible gnashing little teeth. You just want to pull them out with pliers," She a made a motion with her hands as though she were about to throttle an imaginary Travers before she sighed in frustration and flopped down in a chair besides Buffy. She became deadly serious and somber as she looked to Giles sincerely and asked him, "Can they really send you out of the country? Stop the wedding?"

"In a heartbeat," Giles admitted, taking his glasses off as he began to clean them, anything to prevent himself from making eye contact with Joyce as he carried on with what he was saying, "See, the rough stuff, they're all right out there, a bit ham-handed, but they get it done…this stuff, the, uh, bureaucracy, the pulling of political strings, they're the best in the world. They can kill you with the stroke of a pen" He paused in thought but didn't cease to continue cleaning his glasses, "Poncy sods" Both Buffy and Joyce jumped slightly as there was a crunching sound and the two looked to see Giles had broke one of the lenses of his glasses in his hand from cleaning too vigorously. He sighed in resignation at the glasses and the entire situation their new state represented and took a seat next to Joyce who rested her head on his shoulder, looking frustrated to the point of exhaustion by the entire thing.

"Am I going to be able to get through this review?" Buffy asked quietly.

"Well I," Giles decided to go for complete honesty over words of comfort, "I suppose they'll make it as difficult as they want to. The physical stuff could be a bit of a challenge"

"That's not what I'm worried about," Buffy told him, "It's the other stuff. Examining decisions I've made. Twice now I've been in slaying distance of Glory and twice she's kicked my ass without even tensing a muscle. And I haven't been able to figure out…what she is, or anything about her except that she wants the key, which we have, and I can't even figure out of it's okay to tell anyone that"

Joyce leant up off of Giles to reach over and put her hand over Buffy's calmingly.

"You are doing great honey, no one could ask anymore from you"

"The council can," Buffy countered, her tone suddenly becoming panicked, "They're gonna ask questions I don't know the answer to. Their gonna expect me to…be like a Slayer and know stuff, but I'm just me and I don't know anything and they're gonna go away and they're not gonna tell me how to fight Glory, and I'm not gonna be able to protect Dawn."

"Buffy, calm down," Giles told her, "The scandal here isn't anything you've done wrong, it's the way their behaving. Holding what they know hostage with a gun pointed at my bleedin' green card no less," He sighed and Joyce moved her hand off Buffy's to put her hand in his, giving it a supportive squeeze, "It's humiliating."

"Also smart," Buffy added, "It's the perfect thing. Mom can't lose you," She looked directly at Giles, making eye contact, "_I_ can't lose you"

"Thank you," Giles said softly and Buffy sighed, standing up.

"I guess I should be getting ready. What do you think it'll be like? I mean how do you think they'll start?"

* * *

"Mrs Summers," Nigel said simply as he sat in the seat opposite Joyce at her dining room table, "Mr Giles and yourself have been dating for quite some time now haven't you?"

* * *

"Since Buffy's senior year, you know that," Giles snapped in reply to Travers' question. Travers sat at the table in the Magic Box while Giles stood nearby, refusing to sit.

"And…well, the relationship has most certainly progressed in its seriousness hasn't it?" Travers asked carefully.

* * *

"Well, yeah," Joyce replied as Nigel took notes and she gave him a look that showed she was less than impressed, "Engagement tends to imply this…I'm sorry, what has this got to do with Buffy?"

"Well, it's merely to do with research into how well Buffy performs as a Slayer. How personal situations might affect that"

"What personal situations?" Joyce asked in disbelief, "Why would my relationship with Rupert affect Buffy's slaying in anyway? I mean, maybe Buffy the _girl_ was, at first a little-"

"So she was affected? By the situation, I mean?" Nigel checked.

"Well, like any teenager really- why are you even…what are you writing down?"

* * *

"We both know that yours and Buffy's relationship was a little unconventional to begin with," Travers stated, "You always looked upon her as a daughter and she in return, clearly sees you as a Father figure"

"Your point being?" Giles asked and Travers cleared his throat before continuing.

"Your, ah, relationship with the girl's Mother has, obviously, only further developed these bonds."

"You think my marrying Joyce is influencing Buffy's decisions and slaying…putting her in danger…." Giles said slowly in realization.

"Don't you?" Travers challenged.

* * *

"No, I don't think that question's appropriate,"

"This is merely an evaluation Mrs Summers," Nigel insisted as Joyce stood up from her seat, anger clearly building, "You have to understand-"

"I '_understand_' that this evaluation is nothing more than your hoops and your intention for us to jump through them"

"As a reasonable woman Mrs Summers, I'm sure you see how significant and important these questions are to the evaluation."

"Of course I'm a reasonable woman. It's you and the rest of the council who are unreasonable!" Joyce exclaimed, anger mounting, "I'll admit my preconceptions about the council were negative before your arrival here, but surely you _'understand'_ that considering that I've come across the council three times before and each time, well," She laughed without humor, "You've tried to kill me." She breathed deeply and walked around her chair so she was directly in front of the table, facing Nigel who still sat on the other side, "But I decided to go through all this…these 'evaluations', these tests, for Buffy's sake…for the information you have, what's a few hoops? But threatening Buffy, threatening Rupert…putting each and every one of us through these _ridiculous_ questionnaires, interpreting our answers to suit _your_ purposes, examining _my _personal life as though you have the freedom to do so. I have my limits" Joyce told him finally, "And I think you just pushed them"

"Well I-"

"We're finished," She told him firmly and coldly and Nigel, quite unable to hide his intimidation when he heard the hidden threat in her voice and saw the cold look in her eyes, rose from his seat and silently headed over to the front door, clipboard clutched under his arm. "Before you go," Joyce's voice caused Nigel to pause mid-way to reaching for the door knob, "I want you relay a message to Mr Travers," She told him, turning around to look at him now, folding her arms across her chest, "I know he, you and the rest of you consider me pretty much irrelevant in the entire Slayer scheme- his actions from my trip to London proved that- but if any harm comes to Buffy, Rupert or any of my family…I _will_ find a way to make you suffer, have no doubt"

Nigel nodded silently, an unvoiced assurance that the message would reach the head of Council, before leaving just as silently out the front door. Joyce closed the door behind him just as Dawn walked into the room.

"Who was that?" Her youngest daughter asked inquisitively.

"A member of the Watcher's Council," Joyce replied, not looking away from the door.

"What happened?"

"I think I just totally screwed our chances," Joyce replied honestly, turning to look at Dawn with a worried look.

* * *

"I don't like this," Joyce said simply as she and Giles stood in the training room at the magic store, alone together.

"Yes, I know," Giles, agreed, "But, well, they'll be gone soon"

"I'm not talking about _them_," Joyce gestured in the direction of the main part of the store where the Watchers stood waiting silently and somberly for Buffy to arrive, "I'm talking about Buffy not being here yet,"

"She'll be fine. She's just running a late. It is Buffy after all and it _is_ Sunnydale," Giles joked slightly and Joyce nodded with a slight smile.

"It's just…. with this Glory around…I'm constantly worried for Dawn on top of my usual worrying for Buffy, and on top of that there's even more worrying for Buffy" She sighed, "It's just a whole lot of worry," She sighed again, but this one was more out of frustration as she pointed in the direction of the main part of the store again, "I _also_ don't like them"

Giles chuckled lightly at the earnestness in her voice and couldn't agree more as he put his arms around comfortingly and she settled against him contentedly in his embrace.

"Why did they even question us separately?" Joyce asked into his shirt, "They didn't split anyone else"

"Travers' idea most likely," Giles told her, "But the reasoning behind it? Beyond a vendetta, I can't think of much else"

"Well your Slayer's twenty minutes late and counting Rupert," Travers announced as he walked into the room, interrupting the private moment and the two looked over at him, but to the chagrin of Travers didn't let go of one another.

"I assure you, Buffy will be here," Giles told him and Travers chuckled.

"Yes, but when?"

"I'm not sure I like your tone Mr Travers," Joyce told him, now letting go of Giles to face Travers properly, speaking in her patient, filled-with-controlled-anger parent-teacher voice.

"Joyce…" Giles said quietly, putting a hand on her arm to calm her down slightly as he knew they were walking on dangerous territory here.

"She's a slayer," Joyce carried on saying to Travers, "You know what that entails. Did you think to consider that she's been held up by vampires? This is Sunnydale after all. Hellmouth, remember?"

Travers just nodded with an expressionless face before exiting the room. Giles and Joyce looked at each other silently, before following.

Walking into the room, Joyce looked around for the rest of the group but could see them nowhere. She turned to Giles.

"Where are the others?" She whispered. He pointed heavenward and she looked up to see Tara, Willow, Anya and Xander all sat in a childish way, legs swinging, on the top floor of the store, with their legs hanging through the railing. They waved down at them silently.

Just then, Buffy walked in through the door, carrying a lethal looking sword in her hand. She was looking at it inquisitively as she walked at a leisurely pace to the table where Travers sat.

"You're late," He commented snootily.

"Yeah," Buffy did nothing but one wordedly agree

"Was there an attack?" Giles asked, concerned as he eyed the sword.

"Yeah," Buffy agreed monosyllabically again and once more sounding very pensive.

"We can begin the review at last," Travers announced quietly as he picked up a pen, "We'll skip the uh, more obvious questions"

Slowly Buffy placed the sword down on the table, across the papers Travers intended to write on.

"There isn't going to be a review"

"Sorry?" Travers questioned, not believing it to be possible to have heard what he just heard.

"No review. No interrogation. No questions you _know_ I can't answer. No hoops, no jumps-" Nigel began to speak and Buffy threw him an even glare, "No interruptions"

As Nigel immediately shut up, Buffy began to pace slowly as she talked calmly and quietly, fully aware that every Watcher was being attentive.

"See, I've had a lot of people talking to me the last few days. Everyone just lining up to tell me how unimportant I am. And I've finally figured out why," She looked Travers in the eye, her gaze powerful and menacing, "Power. I have it. They don't. This bothers them" She resumed her pacing as she began to move her coat at the same slow, calm, steady pace, "Glory…came to my home today"

"Oh my god, Buffy is everything alright? Dawn?" Joyce checked at the exact same time Giles asked, "Buffy are you okay?" and so the words of the two of them came out as a messy jumble but Buffy looked over at them with a serene smile that matched her calm pace. She seemed oddly at ease with everything suddenly.

"Just to talk," She assured them. "She told me I'm a bug. I'm a flea. She could squash me in a second" She stopped her pacing to look directly at Travers once more, "Only she didn't. She came into my home and we talked. We had what in her in her warped brain probably passes for a civilised conversation. Why?" She didn't wait for an answer, "Because she needs something from me. Because I have power over her" She put her hands on her hips as she looked around at every Watcher in the room, catching for a moment the eyes of her friends who were watching eagerly from above, "You guys didn't come all the way from England to determine whether or not I'm good enough to be let back in. You came to beg me to let _you_ back in. To give your jobs, your lives some semblance of meaning."

"This is beyond insolence-" Nigel began, breaking the rule of 'no interruptions' and without blinking an eye Buffy picked up the sword in one hand and flung it in the direction of the Watcher. It imbedded itself in the wall just inches from his nose.

"I'm fairly certain I said no interruptions,"

"That was excellent!" Joyce heard Xander whisper excitedly above her and she looked up to see he was wearing a huge grin on his face. She had to agree though, after the way Nigel had been in the 'interview' she did get a little happy from seeing the sword thrown at him and him being scared into silence. He stood there, now a dithering, nervous wreck, not really daring to say another word.

"So here's how it's gonna work," Buffy carried on, "You're gonna tell me everything you know. Then you're gonna go away. You'll contact me if and when you have any further information about Glory. The magic shop _will_ remain open. Mr Giles will remain here as my official Watcher, reinstated at full salary-"

"Retroactive," Giles coughed out, hoping Buffy would get the message. She did.

"…to be paid retroactively from the month he was fired," Travers went to say something and reading his mind and so guessing what he was about to say Buffy carried on, "This will _not_, however, affect in anyway Mr Giles' relationship with my mother. Their wedding and their marriage will not be interfered with by any member of the council. I would ask no derogatory comments to be made, but," She smiled an equally smarmy smile at Travers ironically and perhaps purposely reminiscent of Gwendolyn Post (Mrs), "But we can't ask for miracles can we? I will continue the work with the help of my friends."

"I-uh," The Watcher who Joyce recognized as Cassandra from the trip to London spoke up nervously, "I don't want the sword thrown at me, but, but, civilians. We're talking about children"

Buffy looked up at her friends with a smile.

"We're talking about two very powerful witches and a thousand-year-old ex-demon"

"Willow's a demon?!" Anya attempted to cover her back. Badly.

"The boy?" Phillip, another Watcher questioned, "No power there"

"The 'boy' has clocked more field time than all of you combined he's part of the unit"

"Erm, but-" Cassandra again spoke nervously, "your Mother. I mean the ah, boy may have uh 'clocked field time', but your Mother has no defences, no skills, but being your Mother she's already a liability and distraction for your slaying. Do you really think it's safe to have her, well, in battle so-to-speak?" By the way Cassandra spoke it was evident that she had quickly determined where the power and control lay. Buffy.

Buffy looked over at her Mom who still stood beside Giles, underneath her friends sat on the balcony and thought over the past events. Finding out about Dawn, her getting ill, Ethan…everything. The Watcher was right- she didn't have any 'special defences'. She couldn't fight properly herself, she wasn't overtly used to all things slayery, but yet she was still stood there, not falling apart and not backing down.

"My Mom has a world of strength in her and has faced more things in the past few week than all of you combined will in your lives," Buffy smiled over at her Mom, who returned it, "I don't know anyone stronger," She looked to the audience of Watchers, "Each and everyone of this group matters. We work together. Always. Now, you all may be very good at your jobs, the only way we're gonna find out is if you work with me. You can all take your time thinking about that," She turned to look directly at Travers, "But I want an answer right now from Quentin, because I think he's understanding me" She paraphrased his own statement from before. A little thrown off, Travers cleared his throat.

"Uh, your terms are acceptable,"

* * *

"Giles," At the sound of his name, Giles looked up to see Buffy stood in the doorway to the training room. The Watchers' Council had left the previous day and as the store was now completely empty, he had decided to take the time to clean up the mess the Watchers had left behind. Training equipment out of its place for example, stock not returned to the front of the store.

"Buffy," He greeted her simply with a smile. He was still beaming from how Buffy had dealt with Travers the other day and how thrown off the head of council had been by it. Plus, she'd gotten him his job back- retroactive salary, of course- and he couldn't be more thankful. He looked at her and saw how much she had grown up and matured since he first met her when she had been a typical American 16-year-old girl all those years ago.

"So the British Invasion has officially left the building thank god," Buffy commented lightly as she stepped into the room, "No offence"

"None taken, I assure you" He paused, "I'm so very proud of you Buffy. You know that?"

Buffy nodded silently.

"Yeah, of course I do," Buffy, told him with a smile, her voice serious, knowing there was no joke in the touching exchange. Her tone then became light and peppy again, "I just like hearing you say it" He laughed quietly.

"So, how come you're here?" He asked eventually, "I thought you'd be out with Willow, Xander and the others…celebrating the Council's departure"

"We are." Buffy told him, "Well, we were. And we will be doing again…I just wanted to talk to you about something first"

"What is it?" Giles asked, concerned.

"Mom." Buffy stated simply and this clearly wasn't enough explanation as Giles frowned in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"The Council said a lot of stupid things while they were here," Buffy said to him, "But one thing Cassandra said was erm, not wrong" She paused for a moment before carrying on, "Mom can't defend herself. I mean, she's slowly been more and more in on the slaying stuff every week and she still has no abilities beyond research. I mean, I know Xander is basically the same…but, I don't know- it just _seems_ different….but I never used to bother. It was just how it was. She got along just like Xander did. But now we know Glory is…a _god_…I'm worried. Seriously worried." She made sure to make eye contact with Giles as she said her next words, "I want you to train her."

"What?" Giles frowned.

"Train her," Buffy repeated, "I may be the slayer, but that just means I can _do_ the fighting things, not _teach_ them. You can. You're like …well…." Buffy looked awkward for a moment, "you're really good- pretty much something I silently noticed ever since my first year in Sunnydale. And I want Mom taught by the best"

"But, Buffy," Giles said, "As much as I fully appreciate the compliment you just paid me, your Mother is just that…your Mother. She has no special fighting skills, how-"

"I know," Buffy interrupted him in agreement, "Just teach her something minimal effort- maximum damage. I don't know…swords or something. You're good with that. I just-" Buffy took a deep breath, "I don't want her completely defenceless with Glory around, Giles. I don't want her to get hurt."


	14. Blood Ties

Abryxis- Thanks for the review and glad you liked my take on the episode- it's one of my favorites too. I love Buffy's speech at the end. And yes, I thought it was time Joyce got some sort of training- at least a bit. Hehe.

rabdireject- so sorry it was another long wait for updateyness. I'm a bad, bad person. But glad you're enjoying the story so much- gives me a happy. hehe. and well, season 6 will be playing out differently than it did in the show...so watch this space. hehe.

zigpal- my note lossage calls for a standing ovation? I like it! Hehe. And as for Joyce's training...you'll just to wait and see how it goes...;-) haha. Thank you so much for the review. hope you like this chapter.

* * *

A/N: Sorry such another long period for an update, but lately my life has been the uberside of hectic. Just got back from a post-semester (non-educational) college trip to London, which was of the uber fun. My mates and I decided to wander over to The British Museum, you know do the whole tourist thang, and the tour guide who led us round was so sweet and nervous (I think he was new) but his name was Giles Newman! And he insisted we call him Giles. Oh man, I had a (silent) chuckle and a half about that one.

* * *

"I'm not so sure about this…" Joyce admitted worriedly as she stood in the training room at the Magic Box as Giles headed over to her, a sword in each hand. 

"Well, it was Buffy's idea remember-"

"She's doing the dishes for a month,"

"-But I think she's right." Giles continued but Joyce still look apprehensive.

"But it's swords. Pointy, metal, heavy things." Joyce pointed out, "Why are we using swords anyway? It's not like Glory or anyone else is going to challenge me to a sword fight"

"Sword fights can be simple, yet deadly. The co-ordinating skills needed can also be used in hand-to-hand combat," Giles explain in lecture mode, "Sword fighting teaches confidence. _And_ the intensity of battle"

"Hmm…" Joyce non-verbally agreed, her voice wavering.

"Trust me…I'll make it simple," He told her as he put one sword down and handed the other to her. She took it in her hands a little shakily and he stood behind her, reaching around her to put his hands over hers to help her hold the sword properly.

"Now we're just gonna to try a few simple slow moves…exercises," He explained while Joyce distractedly focused on his warm hands over hers and the feel of his body against her.

"You realize this is very distracting?" She told him and he smirked a little before becoming all Watcher.

"Now come on…"

* * *

"Come on, you know you wanna party," Willow said as she, Buffy and Xander walked into the magic store, "It's your birthday after all" 

"Hello? Have you forgotten how all my previous birthdays have gone?" Buffy looked at her with raised eyebrows, "Bad doesn't even begin to cover it"

"Still, celebrating the birth of the Buff," Xander debated, "A much needed break for the slay gal. Plus," He smiled, "it comes with cake"

"I don't know…" Buffy seemed very of the not-keen, "With the new panic that is Glory, I just don't know whether it's safe to get all partylicious. I just think we all need to be prepared."

"Mmm," Willow nodded, "Speaking of- how's your Mom doing?" Buffy frowned in confusion, "The new training sessions you insisted Giles give her?" Willow prompted and Buffy nodded in realization.

"Oh yeah, well erm tonight was meant to be like the first go," Buffy admitted, "Actually they're probably in there now," She looked over at the closed door to the training room with a concerned look, "I just hope she does okay"

"What's the worry?" Xander asked, "It's not like Giles is gonna stake her or anything"

"No," Buffy agreed, "But he can be Mr. Sorry-I-Got-Carried-Away." The others nodded in silent agreement as they headed over to the glass counter and dumped their bags on the side, "I mean, Mom's no slayer, so what about if he does get too Watchery for her own good?"

"So peek," Xander said simply and Buffy frowned.

"What?"

"You wanna check everything's all of the good and safe…so peek"

"I can't do that…." Buffy said before trailing off and looking at her two friends inquisitively, "Can I?"

Xander just opened his palms to her as if to say 'why not?'.

"W-well, it'd just be to check…." Willow reasoned, "I mean you have to see how everything's going right?"

"Well, yeah…" Buffy nodded with a slight shrug, her voice showing that nosiness was fast becoming the main reason for wanting to be the peeping Slayer.

All three felt inquisitive and so they all quietly headed to the door to the training room. Buffy pushed the door open slightly so they all had enough room to look in without being noticed, making sure the door didn't make a sound as she did so. She looked in just in time to see Giles swing a sword round, clearly in full afore-mentioned carried-away mode, which Joyce ducked with a yelp of surprise and the sword embedded itself in the wall behind her.

Buffy pushed the door open further as she went to protest against Giles' training techniques. She wanted her Mom to be able to defend herself, yeah, but she also wanted her slice-and-dice free. However just as she opened her mouth to point out this fact, Joyce brought up her own sword, not as aggressively as Giles, but with enough force to hit his own sword strongly enough to send him back a few steps and she used this moment to resume standing again, sword at the ready. She, understandably, looked a little unsure as she stood there, biting the edge of her lip nervously, but when Giles swung around with his sword slicing through the air, she quickly and smoothly met it, the sound of metal meeting metal echoing loudly in the room. Buffy raised her eyebrow at her friends, seeing they shared the same look of interest as her as they all stood there watching the scene silently, both Giles and Joyce still being oblivious that the three were there at all.

Giles performed numerous sword swings and thrusts, but Joyce surprisingly parried them all, the urge not to be cut apparently overpowering her nerves. But when their swords met a seventh time, Giles twisted his own around causing Joyce's to go with it, making her twist and end up against the nearby wall where he pinned her sword to the wall with his own, rendering her trapped and unable to move.

Buffy thought this concluded the training session, but before she could comment on what she had seen, her Mom kicked Giles away. She met him with a swing of her own sword, now it was free, but he parried it and they continued this for a moment, before Giles decided to throw Joyce a curve ball by thrusting forward with the sword and Joyce had to jump backwards to avoid the pointy end of the weapon. She however, used his own move from before against him, catching his sword with her own and swinging them both round to pin his against the wall. She succeeded, but the moment she did, he kicked around her ankle, bringing her feet out from under her and she fell flat on the mat, on the way down catching his own leg and bringing him down as well, so it wasn't that much of a successful move on his part. As he went to land on top of her he put out his hands out flat on either side of her to prevent from crushing her and the sword he let go of fell down dangerously, but luckily Joyce caught it with her left hand and gently placed it down on the floor beside her.

"Nice catch," he commented, fully meaning the compliment, but a smile played at his lips. She grinned back as she took in the way they were both lay.

"Thanks…you know if you want to be on top, all you have to do is ask," She laughed at him when she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat coming from the doorway and the two looked over.

"Buffy!" Joyce exclaimed as she and Giles both jumped up, "You were watching…. with Willow…and Xander…an audience Buffy?" Joyce was clearly very embarrassed by this revelation.

"Well, while I am presently working very hard on my denial techniques in reference to that last statement," Buffy told her, "I have to say…considering this was a first time training deal…. I mean you're no Slayer…. but you're pretty good." Joyce smiled warmly at the huge compliment paid by her daughter.

"Yeah," Xander readily agreed, "you'll be whoopin' Giles' ass in no time"

"Hmm…" Joyce said uncommitedly, sounding unconvinced as Giles now put away the swords, "So, Buffy…. given any more thought to a birthday party?"

Buffy groaned and rolled her eyes at the mention of the familiar topic again.

"We were just talking about that," Willow smiled, "We were just trying to convince her that she can't let a birthday go by without a little celebration"

"My Mom has always said, like since, I was little, 'always celebrate your birthday coz it may be your last'," Xander told them and off their looks carried on, "I know- morbidness a key theme there- but it was something she always repeated when she was down to reaching to the back of the liqueur cabinet." This statement created an uncomfortable silence for them all, the topic of Xander's parents being a sensitive one for all of them. It was clear that Xander's home life had been anything but perfect up to him being nineteen, and both Joyce and Giles had once discussed the high possibility that their had not only been mental but also physical abuse towards Xander from him parents. However, Xander never outwardly admitted or said anything and clearly never wished to discuss or talk about it so the entire group was automatically told not to pry.

"I'm still not sure…" Buffy told them, breaking the awkward moment, "I mean, with everything that's going on right now…with Glory…I'm afraid if we do stop working on that and visit party town instead…then it _will_ be my last birthday"

"Buffy-" Joyce began, but Buffy interrupted her.

"No Mom, I'm serious. I really don't think it's a good idea,"

"What's not?" The group looked to see Anya and Tara walk into the training room.

"We were out in the store, we just arrived, when we heard you talking…." Tara explained as she walked over to stand beside Willow at the same time Anya walked over to stand beside Xander, holding his arm a little possessively as though afraid every woman in the room was out for him.

"So what's not a good idea?" Anya asked, "The research?" The entire Scooby gang had been called by Buffy to the magic shop to be on official Glory duty. Ever since the Council had given up all the information they had, Anya felt every moment she had was spent looking through it. "I agree," She smiled, "Let's take a break from the research"

"That's what we're trying to do," Willow told her, "But Buffy doesn't think it's the right time to break out the party piñata" She gave her amigo a friendly glare, "But I personally think there is not a better time. Come on, Buffy, even Slayers need to make with the relaxing sometimes"

"Yeah," Xander agreed, "Embrace that funky party weasel within"

"Fine," Buffy frowned at Xander, "Though I'm not quite sure how to reply to the last part, I will agree to a party _if,_" She stopped Willow mid-woo with a condition, "we research Glory now." They all nodded with repeated 'yeahs' in agreement and Buffy looked at them, "Now as in right this minute guys…" She added and they nodded and aahed in synchronized realization before bustling out of the room into the main part of the store.

"So, Glory," Xander commented, "Actual hell god. I'm thinking we find this thing she's after?" He proposed as they all began to take seats at the round table where the research material already lay in wait.

"The key thing?" Willow filled in, her tone of voice implying she agreed with Xander.

"Yeah," Tara added, "I mean shouldn't we be trying to find it before she does?"

Buffy, Joyce and Giles all stopped dead in their tracks, something that luckily enough went unnoticed by the others, as they all glanced at each other, thoughts of the truth behind Dawn running through their minds.

"I don't think that's what we should be worrying about right now," Buffy assured the group as she took a seat.

"No, Buffy…I think it is," Willow protested, "I mean whatever Glory's planning on opening with the key- I'm betting it won't be filled with candy and flowers"

"So where should we start looking?" Xander asked, looking around at Tara, Willow and Anya and so not seeing how Buffy, Giles and Joyce were now clumped together, with Buffy still in her seat, as they looked at each other anxiously. "Do we know where it used to be kept? Who saw it last?" He finished his question in time to see the three of them in a completely silent argument. Once, they felt attention on them, they immediately ceased arguing simultaneously to an almost comical level of abruption. Buffy threw her Mom and Giles a pointed look of resolve before looking over at Xander.

"We do," She gestured to herself, Joyce and Giles, "We know where it is"

"You what?" Xander couldn't believe what he had just heard. All this panic over Glory and they'd known where the key element (no pun intended) was all this time?

"You knew and you didn't tell us?" Willow sounded hurt, but also the way she looked at the three of them implied how dangerous she thought their decision was in not telling the rest of them.

"It was very complicated, _is_ very complicated," Joyce told her.

"Y-yes," Giles agreed, "There were reasons"

"Knowing, it…knowing…. knowing could have put you in danger," Buffy told them, but Xander just looked annoyed.

"As opposed to the other kind _we're_ always in?" His voice dripped with sarcasm and was laced heavily with anger and he looked at Buffy with an accusatory glare.

"Xander."

Xander jumped at the sound of Joyce's snappy tone. He'd heard her Mom voice before, but it had never been used on him before so it set him a little on edge. He looked over at her to find out he wasn't the only one. The topic of this key Glory was after was clearing making her very tense.

"Where is this key?" He asked the three of them, "And more importantly, _what_ is it?"

"We have a right to know," Willow added.

Buffy looked at her Mom and Giles and they all seemed to share a look that confirmed they agreed with one another- it was time to tell the rest and they just prayed that the rest of the group wouldn't over-react.

"There something we have to tell you," Buffy told them all, "About Dawn…"

* * *

"So," Anya said in an overly cheerful, but nevertheless genuine, tone as she sat down on the couch beside Joyce. It was Buffy's party and mere moments ago Dawn had given her sister the present that had caused the entire group to become silently touched and emotional. It was now only Anya who seemed unfazed by the moment as she started to chat happily with Joyce, "about the wedding. That is yours, because well…we don't know anyone else who's getting married. And if we did, at this present time I would still be talking about yours" 

There was a moment as Joyce tried to work out what Anya had actually said, before she finally replied.

"What about it?"

"Well, I've heard that when one woman is getting married it's some form of rite and/or tradition where the bride-to-be discusses said wedding plans with fellow female associates and thus creating a bonding moment for all parties involved" Anya smiled broadly, "So, discuss away."

"Erm…" Joyce sounded extremely unsure as she smiled at Anya, "Well, erm…what do you want to 'discuss'? The venue…the dress…bridesmaids…food…?"

"All of the above," Anya told her, "But I believe a good starting point would be guest lists. I think this will lead to a very in depth discussion. So who ya inviting? I mean, I'm invited of course…I am right?"

"Yes, you are." Joyce laughed at Anya's nod of relief and the little pleased smile that followed. Joyce doubted that the former demon had ever been to a wedding. "And of course family will be coming, both Rupert's and mine. Though we're keeping that minimum on both counts for obviously complicated reasons"

At this point Buffy had walked back into the room and she frowned at hearing her Mother's words.

"What? Giles? Family? They're coming _here_? For the wedding?" She then turned to Giles, "Wait, you have family?"

"Yeah," Willow agreed, looking at Giles also, "You've never talked about your family before. We just assumed you were…." She trailed off but Giles filled in anyway.

"A lonely man from England without a friend or relation in the world and who's only true contact with humans was his slayer and her high school friends when he moved to America?"

"Well, yeah," Xander admitted, munching on some cake, "So we get to meet the fam at the wedding thang?"

"Well…technically it's a little sooner than that…" Joyce said slowly, revealing plans she and Giles had not yet told Buffy, Dawn or any of the others.

"What d'you mean?" Dawn asked from her comfy seat on the floor.

"Well, uh," Giles looked across at Joyce before looking at the rest of them to answer Dawn's question, "Joyce's parents are coming down next week with ah, Arlene and her family…."

"Grandma's comin' to visit?" Dawn asked excitedly with a huge grin, but Buffy seemed less enthusiastic. Dawn had always been the favorite of their Grandmother and Buffy knew this for a fact all too well.

"And erm…" Joyce cleared her throat, wondering how the others, her daughters specifically, were going to react to the information she was about to give them, "Rupert's family are coming to visit as well. In the same week."

"Like a pre-wedding reunion then?" Tara acknowledged with a smile and Joyce nodded.

"Exactly. We just thought it was kinda needed"

"Wait, whoa, whoa, slow down," Buffy told her, "I'm still stuck on the whole British Invasion thing." She spun to look at Giles, "_Your_ family are coming _here_? _Next week_?!"

"Ooh," Willow grinned beside Tara, "More Gileses"

"Whoa, hey- aren't a lot of your family like Go Watchers Council?" Anya asked worriedly, "Aren't they as anti-ex-demon as the ones that came to visit last week? Oh god…I'm not going to be safe in Sunnydale anymore am I? Always been hunted down by Watcher after Watcher…oh God,"

"Anya," Xander rushed over to her and squeezed into between her and Joyce on the sofa to give his girlfriend a comforting hug, "It's all fine. Stop worrying. You're perfectly safe here in Sunnydale…with me"

Anya nodded silently and once he was sure she was calmed down Xander looked over at Giles.

"So how many family members are we talking here?" He asked, "I mean are you like only Brit? Or is there like cousin after brother after cousin after sister to come flying all the way over to this small, hellmouthy Californian town?"

"Well erm…" Giles felt slightly, scratch that, he felt _very_ uncomfortable just reeling off details about his family. He'd always been quite happy to keep everyone around him in the dark about them. "There's, well, there's my Father of course…my erm Mother passed away some years ago, long before I came to Sunnydale in fact…so just the one parent," No one said anything in response to that. It was too far in the past for them to apologize and offer condolences, and there didn't seem to be anything other way to comment on the fact so they all unanimously seemed to decided to opt for respectful silence in response, "I have a brother, uh, Brian- who is at present, despite being several years older than myself, still living a bachelor's life and is actually, now that I think about it, the only one in the family who was told wasn't destined to be a Watcher. He uh, got off scot-free from the 'family business'" He smiled at them all briefly, giving away details of his family clearly making him nervous.

"No way," Buffy smiled, "You have siblings? I always pegged you for the only child type." At his look she explained, "No what I mean is…it would sorta explain why you did the whole uber rebellion thing. All the pressure from your parents just on you and such…plus," She added, "You like never mentioned any."

"So true," Xander asked, "What do you think we'd do Giles? Mock your familyness?" Giles looked at him silently, "Okay good point,"

"I'll have you know not only do I have an older brother, but also an older sister." He told them all.

"Oh," Buffy nodded and then suddenly grinned, "That makes you, like, the baby of the family!"

"Cool," Dawn nodded her approval, having empathy for the baby-of-the-family complex.

"That is _so_ cute," Willow, giggled as she looked at the others for a moment, "He's like the baby Giles"

"Yes," Giles said simply, taking off his glasses and cleaning them briefly, "well, I don't see why I never told you this information before," He said sarcastically as he put his glasses back on and Buffy could visibly see his embarrassment from the entire thing.

"I'm sorry," She apologized, but she was still smiling, "We are fully of the understanding and one with the intrigued. So, erm what's this sister like?"

"Well, she, that is Jacqueline, well, uh she's married and has just the one son who would be…about Dawn's age now I think." He told them, "Though I haven't seen him since he was around eight or nine. Jac is a watcher though. She was quite happy about it too. Much more than I was I believe."

"Hmm, well it's all coming out now ain't it Watcher Man?" Xander grinned, "So they're all coming her next week?"

"Yes," Joyce told him, "It's going to a bit hectic when they're here…though thank God both families are uh are staying somewhere that _isn't_ here…and I'd understand if all of you would want to make yourself scarce"

"Are you kidding?" Xander scoffed, "Miss Giles in his family dynamic? No way!"

"Yeah, we wanna see," Willow grinned.

"Wonderful," Giles commented, clearly meaning anything but, "Nervous as I am about this entire thing, but now I also have an audience"

"Nervous? Why you nervous?" Anya asked.

"Well, it is a bit nerve-wracking," Joyce admitted, "I mean I've never met any of Rupert's family and my parents barely know anything about him. In fact I think Arlene's the only relative from either side that knows anything first hand. In all honesty," She looked at them all, "Next week is not something I'll skipping through the hills about"

"Exactly," Giles agreed, feeling as nervous about the entire affair as his fiancee.

"Well, I could help you make cake," Tara offered and Joyce looked at her in confusion.

"Pardon?"

"What I mean is, when we used to have family reunions when I was younger, my Mom used to be just as nervous so to break the ice she always used to make this great chocolate cake…. and well…. and when everyone was having a slice, they were so busy enjoying it they actual forgot their nerves and…. and…then everything was fine," Tara smiled shyly, her timidness returning momentarily as everyone paid full attention to her.

"That's actually a very good idea Tara," Joyce acknowledge and the girl smiled.

"I'd be very happy to help," She offered, "With the recipe and everything"

"Thank you, I would love the help," Joyce thanked her, appreciating the girl's offer immensely, even though she herself already knew how to make chocolate cake. "Oh speaking of guests though," Joyce said, suddenly remembering something, "That reminds me…I was thinking….well, Buffy, what would you think about inviting Cordelia?"

"Cordelia?!" Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Anya all exclaimed in unison and both Tara and Joyce jumped at the stereo exclamation while Dawn sat there without flinching as though she had fully expected that reaction, which she probably had.

"Mom, why on earth would you wanna invite Cordelia?" Buffy asked, "I mean she's alright and everything…but still I'm not really seeing the connection"

"Well, she was there when Rupert and I first started dating and she fought along side you all more than once throughout High School remember?

"Okay…" Buffy said slowly, thinking the concept was oddly random but accepting it without any real problem.

"But that would mean, we would be obliged to invite the rest of the group from L.A," Joyce carried on, "Including…. Angel?"

"Oh," Buffy said simply, a whole mixture of thoughts rushing at her at this concept.

"I was just wondering whether you would be okay with that?" She asked slowly and carefully while Buffy stood there silently for a minute. She looked deep in thought, the look in her eyes revealing to the rest of the group that in mere seconds she was going over so many different memories she had of being with Angel. And considering whether she was ready, whether she was able to see him again without everything becoming so very complicated.

"Erm," She finally said, swallowing to add moisture to her now dry mouth, "Erm that'd be fine…but erm…. he'd only be able to come to the after-party here you know? Because of the Daylight Thing."

"I know," Joyce nodded. She wasn't particularly keen on Angel coming to the wedding herself, but it seemed wrong to send an invite to Cordelia and not offering invitations to the rest of 'Angel Investigations'. Sometimes you just had to bite the bullet, "But you're sure you're okay with it?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, honest," Buffy said, smiling finally and she was sure it was going to be fine, she was going to make sure of it.

"Whoa, it'd be a bit weird seeing Cordy back in Sunnydale after all this time, " Willow commented and Xander nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I mean I've not seen her since High School. It seems a lifetime ago" As he said this Anya looked at him evenly, "What?" He asked, "What? I don't still have feelings for her!" She carried on looking at him silently, "I don't! I love you!" Anya relented a little in acceptance but still kept looking at him suspiciously and he sighed in resignation realizing he was never going to full win the argument with the former vengeance demon.

"Wait, all of the group from L.A?" Giles checked. He had discussed this with Joyce earlier, but he was just double-checking something that had just this minute occurred to him.

"Yes," Joyce told him with a little nod.

"But doesn't that include, ah, Wesley?"

"Yes, you know that," Joyce told him, "We've talked about this"

"Ah, no," Giles disagreed, "We talked about Angel and Cordelia. We did _not_ talk about Wesley"

* * *

"She needs to get up soon if she's going to make it on time for school," Joyce said to Giles as the two of them stood at the bottom of the stairs looking up in the direction of Dawn's room. She couldn't believe how badly everything had gone last night, how everything had suddenly fallen apart. Everything had been going so well and then Dawn had walked in, her arms cut, blood pouring from the wounds on to the carpet. Joyce just hadn't been able to believe the sight; she couldn't believe that her baby girl had cut herself. 

But Dawn had found out she was the key, that…essentially all her memories were false that everything…she just couldn't imagine what she was going through. She wanted to tell her everything was going to be alright, that it didn't change anything, she was still her daughter- nothing would change that, that they all loved her…but Dawn wouldn't let her anywhere near her. She had screamed for the three of them to get out of her room last night. Screamed and screamed. Joyce had heard her sobbing through the door and now…now she wasn't making any moves to get up, wasn't leaving her room.

"I guess I'd better go get her up," Joyce smiled weakly as she headed up the stairs. Giles followed but while she walked into Dawn's room, Giles stayed out in the hallway feeling if the two of them went in Dawn might feel as though they were ganging up on her and she was already going through enough without feeling surrounded by seemingly disapproving adults.

A moment later though, Dawn stormed out of her room, fully dressed and with her school backpack on her shoulder as she stomped down the stairs in silent aggression and headed out the front door, slamming it loudly behind her. After watching this scene in silent surprise he expected Joyce to walk out of the room after her, but she didn't. Concerned and a little puzzled Giles walked into Dawn's room to see Joyce sat silently on the bed holding one of Dawn's favorite toys in her arms.

"I remember when I bought her this," She said to Giles while looking intently at the small golden toy fox, running her hands gently over the soft faux fur, "We were on a family holiday and we were walking through one of the gift shops. She spotted it on a high shelf…. she couldn't reach it," She laughed a little, it was a quiet melancholy laugh, "She kept asking for it…Hank said she'd had enough…which she had really. We had bags full of toys for her and Buffy…but, but she wanted it so much that when Hank headed out of the store, Buffy and Dawn alongside him, I headed back in and bought it her. She was so pleased…so happy." She looked over at Giles, tears threatening to build in her eyes but she was successfully fighting them back, refusing to give in, "She said…" Her voice wavered though and she swallowed, looking down at the fox once more before looking back at Giles and beginning again, "She said that I'm not her real Mother."

"I'm sure she didn't mean it," Giles comforted her as he took a seat beside her on the bed, "She's just very angry and confused at the moment…understandably…and she's just lashing out"

"I know…but…. I know there's truth to her words and that's what hurts the most," Joyce admitted as the tears started to gain control, "I can't tell her not to be silly because she's not completely wrong. I am her mother, I feel like her mother, I love her like a Mother loves her daughter…. but really, in reality- am I?"

"Of course you are. Now _you are_ being silly, if you, for even a moment, think that isn't true."

She nodded silently, but he could tell from the way she sat and the look in her eyes that she was still going over what Dawn had said. Going over it constantly, analysing every word. He put his arms around and she happily, yet quietly settled into his embrace.

* * *

Later on, Joyce was in the kitchen, still thinking over Dawn's words. She hadn't gone into work. With everything that was going on recently, she just couldn't face going in. Her friends just assumed it was wedding plans taking over her life temporarily, as they had initially expected. Ha. If only they knew the half of it. 

The sound of the phone ringing drew her out of her daze and she headed over from her seat at the island to reach the wall phone near the kitchen door.

"Hello?" She answered and heard the sound of the voice of Sunnydale Junior High's secretary, "Yes, this is Mrs Summers…. wait…. the Principal…why does…. wait, Dawn did _what_?!"

After hanging up she headed into the dining room where she saw Giles stood looking through a shelf of books. Most likely looking for a text referring to 'the key'. Since Dawn had found out…who…what…who she really was, Buffy had told everyone to try and find out everything they could about that- where she came from, how she came to be…everything. It was all too much for Joyce and so this was the one research task in years that she had opted to stay out of.

"Rupert?" She called and he looked over at her, "Dawn's school just called. The principal needs to see us…me…us, well, you know what I mean"

* * *

"Dawn's in the exclusion office at the moment," The school secretary told Joyce and Giles when they arrived, and she gestured to some plastic chairs in the hall, "If you could just wait here for a moment, Principal Rothwell will be with you soon" 

Joyce nodded silently as the woman walked away. She walked over to the chair slowly and took a seat and discovered how incredibly uncomfortable they were. She put her handbag on the small table beside her and dropped her head into her hands, wondering for a moment at how seriously messed up all their lives were. After the brief moment she finally ran her fingers through the length of her hair, pushing the front pieces off her face before lifting her head out of her hands with a contemplative sigh in time to see Giles walking over to take a seat also.

"I wouldn't advise it," She told him, "They're as uncomfortable as they look"

At that moment the door to Principal Rothwell's office opened and out stepped the woman in question.

"Mrs Summers…?" She gestured towards the open door and Joyce got up, heading into the room with Giles closely behind her.

Once they had taken a seat opposite the Principal's desk, they heard the door close as Holly Rothwell headed over to take her seat on the other side of the desk, facing them.

"I assume you know what this is about," Holly said calmly, referring to the information Joyce had been given over the phone.

"Yes," Joyce nodded, "Well, uh, it was briefly explained to me, yes…"

"I'm sure you were as shocked as I was," Holly said, "Dawn is such a bright student as I'm sure you both know…she's always attentive in class, participates in class discussion, always hands her homework in on time and then today…."

"I don't know where she's heard that type of language Ms Rothwell, she certainly-" Joyce said and Holly nodded in understanding.

"I know…she's never spoken like that in class before today either. But when Mrs Stockley asked her question in her history class Dawn initially downright refused to participate and when her teacher tried to convince her…well, that's when Dawn said the horrific things that were mentioned on the phone"

"What exactly is it she did?" Giles asked, "Did she tell ah, Mrs Stockley, to shut up…to…what exactly?"

"No, nothing as minor as that," Holly shook her head, "Well if you must know she told Vanessa, that is Mrs Stockley, to F off," Holly explained using the first initial of the swear word instead of the whole thing and Joyce covered her mouth as she let out a gasp of shock. She had been told on the phone that Dawn had sworn badly at the teacher, but she hadn't known it had been so severe, "And many other uses of taboo language of that nature," Holly continued, "The whole scene became quite hysterical"

"I'm very sorry for the, ah, trouble that's been caused," Giles apologized to the Principal as Joyce still sat there in mild shock.

"It's okay, I assure you…but as this kind of thing has been unheard of in regards to Dawn until now and I was wondering if she's gone through any sudden changes recently that might cause this sort of behavior. As her parents perhaps you may have some insight into it all…"

"Oh, I'm not her parent…" Giles corrected looking at Joyce.

"Oh, are you an Uncle or-" Holly suggested but Joyce shook her head.

"No, erm, well, he's my fiancee so, erm, if anything he's her, uh, stepdad really…"

"I see," Holly nodded, "Is this engagement fairly recent?"

"What?" Joyce asked in confusion, "No it was last- oh wait," Joyce suddenly understood why the head teacher was asking the question, "You think this is the reason Dawn…. no, Dawn was actually surprisingly happy about it…" Joyce shrugged in contemplation, "At least in comparison to my other daughter at least…. but erm…. a lot of things are going on right now…. it's family things you know."

Holly nodded in understanding.

"Yes, well, of course she will have to be suspended for a short time."

"What?" Joyce asked in surprise, despite everything she had been told "For how long?"

"Well, considering her other offences today-"

"What other offences?" Giles asked and Holly silently got out the typed form of information in answer.

* * *

When Joyce and Giles finally left Holly Rothwell's office, Dawn was waiting in one of the red plastic chairs in the hall, sulking. When she heard her Mom and Giles come out of the office, she stood up, putting her bag on her back and making an attempt at looking unfazed by the way her Mom was looking at her in disappointment and disapproval. 

"In the car," Joyce pointed out the door, a smile nowhere near visible on her face as she talked to her youngest daughter, "Now."

* * *

Dawn was debating heading downstairs to where she knew her Mom, Buffy (and possibly Giles) sat in the living room talking about her 'situation'. Dawn doubted what was going on in her life could be classed as simply a situation. It wasn't even her life was it? None of it was real. She'd never written any of her diaries. She'd never gone to the beach with her Dad and sister. She'd never gone to the park with Buffy as kids. None of it had happened! She'd never existed. She wasn't fourteen years old. She was four _months_! They all kept telling her that none of it mattered. Her Mom had even treated the situation at school normally. Telling her off and giving her the silent treatment in the car to show her disappointment. It was hard to believe that she wasn't really her Mom. But then as all three of them kept insisting, they were her family, she was just new to the ranks. 

So maybe everything could be okay- they could opt for denial, pretend like nothing had changed. Dawn loved the idea of going back to that, before she knew everything. And everything and everyone around her was so familiar it would be so simple and easy to slip back into the ordinary, normal routine.

As she headed along the landing her Mom's voice floated up as she spoke to Buffy.

"Her school called today, she was suspended. She yelled at a teacher. The things she said Buffy…I mean she's never used language like that"

"She probably thinks she can say or do anything right now," Dawn heard Buffy reason, "She's not real. We're not her family. We don't even know what she is,"

At these words, heartbroken, Dawn went to run off to her room but she heard her Mom and carry on talking to Buffy so she stopped momentarily to listen.

"Don't you think I know that? I know it more than you or Rupert…than any of you….because I'm the one that actually remembers her _not_ being here remember? I know what it was like without her! Without her _here_….when you didn't have a sister…when-"

Dawn couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her Mom not only seemed to remember when she wasn't around, but the way she was talking she clearly preferred it. They all preferred it. Dawn was just a pesky nuisance, a Slayer's duty that was getting in the way of the rest of their lives. She ran off into her room not sure whether she was upset or angry.

Downstairs, Joyce was carrying on talking to Buffy.

"I know all this for a fact- but it makes me even more sure that we _are_ her family. Nothing's going to change that. How can you talk about her as if she's…she's a _thing?_"

"I'm not!" Buffy insisted loudly, "I'm just saying…that's probably how she feels"

"Well, then we have to show her that it isn't true. She needs to know that she's still a part of this family and that we love her"

"It's not that simple!" Buffy exclaimed standing up also, to face her Mother, "This isn't gonna be solved by a hug and a kiss and a bowl of soup!" At this point, Giles came into the room, his attention drawn by the racket both Joyce and Buffy were creating from their arguing. "Dawn needs to know where she came from, she needs real answers"

"P-perhaps we should, ah, calm down slightly, perhaps?" Giles asked tentatively aware of the tension in the room and both women turned to look at him before saying in synchronization:

"No"

They then turned back to look at each other.

"Dawn needs her sister, not the Slayer Buffy," Joyce said, a little more calmly than before.

"The slayer is the only thing standing between Dawn…and this God from the bitch dimension that wants to shove her in some lock and give her a good twirl. Mom, I need to be out there doing my job-"

She was cut off by a shrill beeping noise ringing throughout the house and she instantly recognized it as the effects of Willow and Tara's anti-Glory spell or rather Pro-Dawn spell.

"Oh god, Glory. It's Willow's spell," Buffy announced running up the stairs but Joyce knew it was really the sound of the fire alarm and she tried to tell Buffy as she and Giles headed up the stairs after her towards Dawn's room.

"Wait, it's not Glory"

Buffy wasn't listening though as she kicked down Dawn's door and rushed inside closely followed by Joyce, while Giles resolved to stand in the doorway looking at the flaming wreck that was Dawn's room. The waste paper basket was on fire and inside was the burning pages of what looked to be Dawn's diaries.

"Dawn!" Buffy exclaimed in annoyance looking around to tell her sister off.

"Buffy…" Joyce tried to calm her down as she looked in the direction of the open window.

"No, Mom," Buffy argued, "She could have burnt the house down"

"Buffy," Joyce repeated, "She's gone"

* * *

"Dawn, what the hell did you think you were doing?" Joyce exclaimed, pulling Dawn into her arms for a tight hug as Buffy and Giles returned home with her. She pushed her daughter away from the embrace for a moment, but not letting go of her shoulders as she looked directly into her eyes, "Don't you _ever_ do that again," She told her firmly before pulling her back in for another tight hug, "I was worried sick. Where on earth-" She at this point caught sight of Buffy's blood soaked shirt and injury to go with, "Wait, Buffy, what's- why…" She looked at all of them, "What happened?" 

"We had another slightly-more-successful showdown with Glory"

"Oh my God…" Joyce breathed in shock before frowning at Buffy, "Wait, _slightly_ more successful?"

"Yeah, erm, Willow and Tara did this poofity spell and Glory was relocated at no extra cost," Buffy explained.

"Mom…." Dawn spoke quietly, "I'm sorry about the…. I'm sorry about the whole house on fire deal-"

"Oh it's okay sweetie," Joyce assured her, hugging the fourteen-year-old again, "I'm just glad you're okay"

Dawn went to speak but Buffy nudged her and she shut up.

"Don't even think about asking her" Buffy warned and Dawn shrugged in sullen acceptance before heading past everyone up the stairs and presumably to her room.

"Ask me what?" Joyce asked.


	15. Crush Part One: Meetings

Abryxis- thank you for the review- you're becoming a regular here- I like it. hehe.

g120- gotta love the way your wordage. 'Even more awesome-ific writing for us lowly mortals!'. I think my ego's all beamy with delight. So glad you're likin this story so much- gives me a happy. heehee :-).Thanks for review

zigpal- thanks for review, claps, and compliments. And I totally agree with you on it being good thang that the scoobies didn't walk in to witness some sexcapades. That would have been like can open...worms EVERYWHERE. haha.

rabidreject-thanks for review and yes- the fang gang will be coming to sunnydale for the wedding. It's just a shame it'll be season 2 Angel Investigations...because, I would have really loved to have had Fred visit Sunnydale. Maybe she will in the future...who knows? Hehe.

* * *

**A/N: This story happens before the events of Crush, as the episode of Crush itself would remain, I think, mostly unchanged. **

**Also, as this is quite a long chapter, I thought it would take pretty much a big period of time for me to write it so I've decided to split it into three parts (or possibly four...) so as to minimize the waitage.**

* * *

"Oh god, I'm sorry Tara, I really didn't mean to- oh I'm sorry, let me erm- get a towel," Joyce apologized profusely after knocking over a small bag of flour near Tara, her temporary kitchen helper. The flour inside the bag had floated up on impact and clouded over the front of Tara's top and a little on her cheek. "Erm, here you go," Joyce handed Tara a clean towel, "Sorry, it's just I'm all over the place today…" She laughed at herself, "I'm just so nervous," 

"It's okay," Tara assured her once all the flour was gone, "And it's understandable to be so nervous. I mean you are meeting your future in-laws for the first time,"

"Oh it's not them I'm worried about," Joyce immediately corrected her as she cleared up the rest of the ingredients they didn't need and Tara frowned in confusion, "Oh I mean I am a little nervous about meeting them _obviously_, but it's my Mom that's making me the worse. Around her…. I just turn into a teenager again. She makes me so nervous like I feel she expects me to slip up any minute," As she paused in her rushing around the kitchen Tara saw properly for the first time the complete and utter worry in Joyce's eyes, "And I just _know_ she'll find anything she possibly can that is wrong about Rupert…. even down to his hair…his clothes…the way he walks. Anything."

"I'm sure it's not that bad…." Tara reasoned quietly, as she helped clear up what was no longer needed as well.

"Oh it is," Joyce told her firmly before smiling gratefully, "I can't tell you how grateful I am for your help here. I never usually need help baking cake…. but I really _do_ today," Joyce laughed, "So thank you"

"It's no problem, really," Tara told her as she blushed at the compliment and thanks, "Should we melt the rest of the chocolate now? For the topping?" Tara suggested. They'd already used half the chocolate in the fridge to make the one chocolate sponge layer on the cake, the other layer being just plain sponge with butter cream dividing the two and now the cake, when it was finally finished baking would require a melted chocolate topping to complete the thing.

"Yes, actually, we uh should," Joyce agreed, "Would you mind getting the other bars out of the fridge? I think there's one left,"

Tara nodded and opened the fridge to find the remains of the foil bars of chocolate lying on the second shelf in the fridge. There had original been two and a half but the half and one of the whole ones had been used to make the one layer of sponge on the cake it's chocolately self. Tara reached in to retrieve the remaining bar. As she closed the fridge door with her hip she started to unwrap the foil cover, which had a slight piece of the original outer wrapping on it. Purple by the looks of it. Tara screwed up the paper and seeing the bin was full, threw the rubbish on the kitchen side near the sink temporarily.

* * *

"When you guys said you were gonna be hanging around for the Days of Our Lives special you weren't kidding were you?" Buffy looked around at her friends as they sat together in her bedroom. Buffy was lay out comfortably on her bed, Willow was propped up against the side of the bed, next to Tara and Xander sat comfortably on the mattress beside Buffy. She smiled as she enjoyed the quiet, fun, non-slayery moment. She couldn't remember doing this since she was seventeen. 

"We are all here and waiting to witness Giles being mollycoddled by the rest of his stiff upper lip family," Xander grinned cheerily, clearly look forward to the prospect.

"Well if you're here then where's Anya?" Willow asked, looking up in Xander's direction.

"What? You think she doesn't let me go places by myself?" Xander asked, sounding insulted, "That just because I'm here, she should automatically be here too? You know, I do _have_ a life separate from Anya you know"

"She stayed behind to look after the store, huh?" Buffy guessed and Xander gave in easily.

"Yeah, she's back at the shop making sure it stays open for business"

"Hey, can I come in here?" Dawn asked tentatively as she stood in the doorway watching the group and they all looked over in her direction.

"Why…?" Buffy asked, squinting at her sister suspiciously.

"It's just Mom's pretty antsy downstairs- pacing and such…and well, if I hear Giles mutter," She put on a fake British accent, "'Oh Lord' one more time I may implode"

"They're just a little nervous sweetie," Tara assured her, beckoning with her hand for her to come and sit beside her and Willow on the floor and Dawn did so.

"Well I wish they'd all get over the nervy part all ready and get on with it." Dawn looked at Tara in earnest, "Is antsyness contagious?"

"No," Willow laughed, "Why?"

"Because I think I caught it off Mom,"

A knock at the door prevented any reply and cut off their laughs and they all looked at each other silently. Then suddenly, in complete and utter synchronization they all bounded out of their places, ran out the door and down the stairs just in time to see Joyce pulling open the front door.

"Mom, hi," Joyce greeted the woman at the door with a smile as she gave her a quick hug before letting her in. Arlene, Peter and their twelve-year-old daughter, Karla, closely followed her. "Arlene, Peter…" More hugs. She then turned to her twelve year old niece who happily ran up to her, "Little Kaz"

"Aunty Joyce!" As the twelve year old ran into her, Joyce was shocked a little by the impact- she was a lot heavier than she was when she was seven after all- but it didn't knock her over like it used to when she was caught off guard.

"You must be getting used to that," Arlene commented, "That used to knock you over- either little Kaz here is getting weaker or you've developed some strength suddenly"

"Practice makes perfect," Joyce laughed lightly, making a joke of the whole thing as Karla ran over to Dawn and Buffy. Arlene and Peter also walked over to see their nieces but Joyce's Mom, Grace stayed where she was beside her youngest daughter, waiting for her husband, Michael to catch up with the rest of them. Eventually, he walked through the door and closed it behind him.

"Joyce," He smiled cheerfully giving her a warm hug, before catching sight of his granddaughters over her shoulder, "Buffy and Dawn- look at the two of you all grown up." As he walked over to give them a hug Arlene, Peter and Karla went to take a seat in a dining room for a moment out of the way of the others.

"And who are you three?" Mike asked, looking at Buffy's friends.

"Oh erm, these are my friends," Buffy explained, "Xander, Willow and Tara."

"Hey," Xander greeted Buffy's grandfather while Willow said Hi cheerfully and Tara mumbled a polite and sweet shy 'hello'.

Grace wanted to go over to see her granddaughters but first she wanted to see what her future son-in-law actually looked like. She'd only found out about him at all a couple of months ago over the phone. She knew most things that were going on in Arlene's life, ever since the two sisters were little kids; Grace had been able to read her like a book. But Joyce had never been that easy. She'd never been able to tell what she was thinking; she was always out at all hours when she was a teenager and went through a rebellion that Arlene never did. And apparently some things didn't change.

"So where is he?" Grace asked straightforwardly.

"Where, who- oooh," Joyce said in realization and she pointed behind her Mother, "He's erm been behind you for the past five minutes. You've kinda…. been doing the oblivious ignoring thing"

"Oh," Grace said simply, not sounding the least bit embarrassed as she turned to look at Giles taking in every detail slowly.

"Mrs Taylor," Giles greeted and he held out his hand and Grace shook it.

"Grace," She corrected him automatically which he took to be a good sign, "And you must be the, uh, Rupert Giles Joyce has told me practically nothing about"

She took her hand away from Giles to look at her daughter again.

"And I mean every word of that Joyce. I didn't even know you were even _seeing_ anyone till your sister mentioned it."

"Mom I-"

"And then next thing I know I've got a phone call from you saying you're getting married. It's one thing to be out of the loop Joyce, but this is _ridiculous_," Grace complained, "I thought you'd gotten over keeping all these secrets from me when you stopped being a teenager"

"What?" Joyce asked in shock, "I'm not keeping secret- wait, I'm not acting like a teenager."

"Well, it's all very secretive either way," Grace concluded as she began to head in the direction of the kitchen, "And at forty-three- forty-four nearly in fact- I thought you'd have more sense than to get married all over again…"

"Mom…" Joyce complained patiently, hot on the heels of her Mother, them both heading into the kitchen as their conversation drifted out of earshot of the rest of the group.

"She wasn't kidding when she said her Mom makes her feel like a teenager again," Tara commented quietly to Willow.

"Don't worry about Grace," Mike assured Giles as he walked over, "She's always like that. As long as you don't plan on treating Joyce like Hank did then you've already got a head start"

* * *

"I assuming your family don't share your views on tardiness as being the eight deadly sin," Buffy said to Giles after glancing at the clock once again. They were all in the living room- Joyce and Giles on the sofa with Buffy sat lounging on the end seat. Karla and Dawn were sat on the floor, looking bored, on opposite sides of the coffee table. Willow and Tara were sharing one of the large chairs, as were Arlene and Peter. Grace got a chair to herself and Mike and Xander stood near the fireplace, claiming they were both happy seatless. It had been half an hour since the Taylors had arrived, but the Giles family were still yet to show. 

"Oh this isn't late," Giles assured her.

"It's not?" Dawn checked.

"Sure feels like late to me," Buffy concluded taking another look at the clock on the mantelpiece before checking the time against her own wristwatch.

"No, this isn't them _being_ late, it's them taking their own time" Giles informed them, knowing his family all too well.

"Well, can't they take their own time _on_ their own time?" Xander asked, "We're getting impatient here G-man"

"Years ago I told you not to call me that," Giles told him, "And the rule still stands"

A knock at the door and the room fell silent, at least the Scooby part of the room anyway. Grace carried on talking to Mike and Arlene carried on chatting to Peter, but when the four of them realized that a silence had fell over the room, they quietened down as well. Giles was the first to move as he headed to the door, a slight look of determination on his face as though he was making sure he wasn't going to allow everything to go to hell with the arrival of his family. He had no idea how they were going to get on with Joyce's parents and sisters and co. As he didn't look back, he felt, rather than saw, Joyce follow him to the front door.

"Couldn't find the blasted place could we?" Was the first thing Joyce heard as Giles opened the door and as she took in the figure on the doorstep, someone about eight years older than Giles and while their hair was similar, though the man on the doorstep's was a lot thinner, and their stance was also almost mirrored, their eyes were the one strong difference. When Joyce looked into Giles' eyes she saw warm green shades that always seemed to reflect the sweet, gentle side of his nature but were forever changing with each mood. The stranger in front of her had dark brown eyes, so dark that it was difficult to define the black pupils within them. This was clearly Giles' older brother, Brian.

The two looked at each other, not knowing how to greet each other after not having seen each other for years. They settled for a handshake, and as they shook hands Joyce saw the others, from the corner of her eye, start to head over to have a better look. By others that was Buffy, Xander and Willow. Dawn looked interested but she seemed to be keeping a safe distance by staying beside Karla on the floor and Tara was choosing to be polite and stay in her seat that she had moments ago been sharing with Willow.

"So, this the ah girl then eh?" Brian asked, looking over at Joyce and she smiled pleasantly at him. A smile he thankfully returned before suddenly drawing her into a random, friendly, unexpected bear hug that threw Joyce off. This was not something she had been predicting. As she was being hugged, she saw over Brian's shoulder a woman heading up the path in a black-and-white tailored and beautifully designed suit that had to be a designer label- along with the perfectly smooth and flicked light brown hair and just as designer black and white heeled shoes, the woman could give Deborah Kerr a run for her money.

"Don't worry about him," She assured Joyce catching her future sister-in-law's look as she walked to the front door. Her accent was even more upper class than Giles' and although she said everything in a very clipped tone, her voice was fairly soft, "He's always like that, always has been I'm afraid. Startles you quite a bit at first but you get used to it after a time." At this point Brian had long broken the hug, much to Joyce's relief, "I'm Jacqueline by the way," the woman introduced herself holding her hand out elegantly to Joyce and they shook hands, "Most call me Jac though, Jacqui at a stretch." She smiled pleasantly at her before turning to look at her younger brother, "Rupert, hi," She gave her brother a quick hug before taking a good look at him, "My you haven't…well, changed a bit have you? You know, I was so pleased when I heard you had joined the council again, it was simply wonderful to hear." She suddenly stopped her cheery smiling to squint at Giles suspiciously, "You're looking a tad tired you know? Actually more than a tad. How much have you been working lately? You can be such a workaholic you know" Giles couldn't help rolling his eyes at the comment.

"See," Xander grinned to Buffy and Willow as they watched the scene play out in front of them, "Mollycoddled"

"It's a whole other side to Giles I never thought existed," Willow thought aloud.

"It's freaky," Buffy concluded as Dawn headed over to join them.

"So how are the Gileseseses….?" Dawn asked, trailing off as she struggled to say the plural.

"So far, so odd," Buffy admitted as she waited for more to come through the door. The next to walk through was a boy who looked to be exactly Dawn's age. He was fairly tall, but not at all lanky, dark hair not unlike Giles' (This apparently being a trademark for all the men in Giles' family that had been seen so far,) and although his eyes were blue and not at all like his Mom's (Who Buffy assumed to be the sister, Jacqueline as Giles had said only one teen was coming along) who had the same eyes as Giles, he had a smile on his face that had a striking familiarity that Buffy couldn't ignore. She also couldn't ignore the look her younger sister was giving him. "Were you just checking him out?"

"No," Dawn automatically denied, perhaps a little too quickly.

"You were," Buffy insisted in shock, "You were checking out Giles' nephew"

"What?" Willow asked, tuning into that part of the conversation, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Did I just step into a complicated soap opera and not realize?" Xander asked everyone as he tuned into Buffy and Dawn's conversation also.

"_No_, you didn't," Dawn insisted urgently, "Buffy's just being stupid. As usual"

"I have problems with that statement," Buffy told her, "On two counts." The group then returned to watching the rest of the Gileses trail in. It was a weird sight to see. Giles with family? A completely new and unheard of notion.

"So…" Joyce said, hiding her nervousness as she looked at the fourteen-year-old boy, "You must be…Ted? Jacqueline's son?"

"Yeah, yeah I am," Ted smiled, looking past Joyce to look at Buffy, Dawn, Xander and Willow. "Who's that?"

"Edward," Jac reprimanded his abrupt tone, but Joyce told her it was perfectly okay.

"Well, this is erm, my daughter Buffy-"

"The Slayer right?" Ted checked suddenly and Joyce nodded.

"Uh, yes…and these are her friends Xander and Willow and that's my other daughter Dawn."

"Dawn?"

"Mm-hmm" Once Joyce confirmed this Ted walked over to the group for better introductions.

Then through the door, came another man, this one the same age as Jac (ish) and looked nothing like the rest of the Giles family. Sandy blonde hair that was just starting to lose it color and the very same blue eyes as Ted, this was clearly Ted's Father and Jac's husband. The one member in the entire group who wasn't _actually_ a Giles. He stood there for a moment, nameless before Jac realized that only Giles had ever met him before.

"Oh, dreadfully sorry. This is ah my husband, Harvey" Jac looked at her husband, "Where's Dad? I thought he was walking up with you?"

"I was," An until-now-unheard voice said and Joyce looked to see who could only be Giles' Father. Joyce could immediately tell it was Giles' Dad, even if the similarities weren't major. The huge difference though was that this man _clearly_ was an orthodox Watcher and eagerly followed in Travers' footsteps. Also the look he gave as he looked around the entire home and the people in it could only be described as 'snooty'. "You must be Joyce," He commented.

"I must," Joyce, agreed, "Hi"

Edward Giles just looked at Joyce silently, nodding slightly to acknowledge the 'hi' before walking on further into the house to have a look at the entire home, it's contents and the people in it. Joyce looked at Giles inquisitively and he gave her an apologetic look in return as the rest of the family walked further into the house too and Joyce closed the door behind them.

"Uh- hey," Buffy one-wordedly and abruptly stopped Edward's inspection with a hand on his arm that brought him to a stand still, "Can we stop with the health inspection?"

"Buffy, I presume," Edward guessed, taking note of her strong grip.

"You'd presume right now could we stop with the pacey-pacey?" She asked just as her Grandparents walked up behind her.

"Oh you must be Rupert's Father," Grace said pleasantly holding her hand out for Edward to shake. He didn't, but instead held his own hand out to Mike and Mike shook it, a flicker of confusion crossing his eyes.

"Edward Giles," He greeted Mike amiably.

"Michael Taylor," Mike replied, "And this is my wife, Grace, we're uh Joyce's parents."

"It's official." Joyce murmured to Giles, "I'm back at the night of my High School Prom. Any moment now they'll start retelling embarrassing tales from my childhood,"

"It is rather a déjà vu of sorts isn't it?" Giles agreed, with a laugh that sounded less amused than he intended it to as he watched his Father warily.

"Well I have to say, Rupert all this is a bit of a shock," Brian commented after introducing himself to Arlene and Peter, "You always said you'd never marry…. and well, to an American as well. Well, it's twice the shock isn't it?"

"_Why _does everyone seem to make that comment?" Joyce asked in exasperation, feeling slightly irritated, "What is wrong exactly with being American?"

"Nothing really," Brian hurried told her in response to her challenging tone. He didn't want to get into an argument at the 'reunion' anyway, but considering this Joyce was dating his younger brother he could only assume, and correctly most likely, that she was the rough and tumble type that he always seemed to attract and so starting a fight or argument with her was not on Brian's to-do list, "Just stereotyping I suppose,"

"Yes…." Joyce agreed, sounding thoroughly unconvinced and eventually opted to change the subject, "Why don't we all head into the living room? It's a little pushed for space but it's better than hanging out here in the hall isn't it?"

The entire group mutually, yet silently agreed as they trailed into the relatively-small-considering-the-circumstances living room.

"So, erm…." Grace apparently struggled for a conversation starter as the two families looked at each other inquisitively. The only ones seemingly oblivious to the awkwardness were Dawn and Ted in the far side of the room as the two of them chatted together, clearing getting on well with one another, "What do you do for a living?" She finally decided to ask, aiming the question at all the adults of the Giles family but her gaze was on Edward as though she was expecting him to answer for all of them.

"Well, I wouldn't call it so much a living as a calling…" Edward reasoned, "But we are all in the same, ah, 'business' as Rupert of course. Except, well, except for Brian"

Grace and the other members of the Taylor family looked completely perplexed.

"A calling?" Arlene repeated, not viewing the job of 'Librarian' as anything like a calling.

"Yes," Buffy readily agreed, "They all take their work very seriously. Generation after generation of…. Librarians…in the family" As it came out of her mouth; she realized how ridiculous it all sounded. She just hoped they'd be convinced.

"What in the devil are you talking about, girl?" Edward asked Buffy and she looked at him wide-eyed, urging him to get the point that her Mom's family didn't know the slayer-watcher deal. Thankfully he seemed to get the point…but not to the extent where he knew to keep his mouth firmly shut, "Well this _is_ marvellous Rupert," He commented sarcastically, "Marrying into a family that doesn't even know the truth of it all?" He laughed sharply at the situation, "'Complications' I don't believe quite covers it, does it?"

"What? What do you mean?" Grace asked, even more confused than before. She turned to her husband as though he might have the answers through deciphering some male code, "Michael, what's he talking about?"

"I'm assuming _she_ knows at least," Edward carried on, pointing in the direction of Joyce.

"Yes, '_She_' does," Joyce, told him, sounding very annoyed, "And who's 'she'? The cat's mother?"

Edward looked affronted by the woman's downright head-on confrontation to his choice of words.

"What truth?" Arlene asked her sister, "Is this about the school blowing up?"

Joyce merely frowned in reply- where on earth had her sister come up with _that_ connection? She looked around and saw how everything was going to fall apart rapidly if she didn't do something very, very soon. She stood up and luckily this seemed to make the majority of them silent as they turned to look at her.

"Who wants chocolate cake?" She asked pleasantly, a smile plastered on her face, before she caught Tara's eye and threw her a genuine smile of thanks.


	16. Crush Part Two: Chocolate Cake

zigpal- thank you vair much for review, and of course those much loved claps. Spike does turn up a little in this part, but it'll be even more so in the next one and glad you're likin' Crush so far. :-)

g120- yah you're good- you _totally_ gave me a happy. ooh- yesh, you did get the hintage on the chocolate front as you shall see... **.::durn durn durn::.** haha. And 'Buffy English Style' I like that a lot. haha. I imagine the phrase being followed by an oh-so-cool wink. haha.

rabidreject-thanks for review and I'm glad you're likin it so far

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"I'm sorry about that," A voice from the kitchen doorway stopped Joyce in the middle of taking the cake out of the oven where it had been waiting, already cooked, patiently. She stood up straight to see Jacqueline stood there.

"Sorry?" Joyce asked, not getting what the woman was referring to.

"What my Father was like before…with you." Jac explained, "I mean…. he's from a different time…different era…. and he just kind of views things rather differently than he should"

"So are my parents," Joyce countered, resting one hand on the counter as she talked the woman so as to retain her in-control stance at the same time as not looking especially confrontational, "But my Dad doesn't make those misogynistic comments"

"Touché." Jac smiled, "You really threw him you know?" Again, Joyce was slightly unsure of what she was talking about, "When you retorted. Dad isn't used to people facing up to him _at all_ really…"

"I don't like that sort of attitude," Joyce admitted honestly, "Especially in my own home"

"Don't worry- I'm not disagreeing," Jac held her hands up in mock surrender, "I have a strong feeling that what you said in there was rather mild and very much a warm-up so-to-speak and so I'd rather not be on the receiving end of your retorts once the warm-up is complete"

Joyce just gave her a look that told Jac it was the right decision. The Giles family had set Joyce quite on edge- their entire attitude to everything had her defences up and so, in all honesty, she really wasn't in the mood for pointless small talk and boring chit-chat. Nor was she in the mood for any remarks they wished to head her, or any of her family's way.

"I do care about my brother you know," Jac said in a quiet tone that revealed it was the honest truth and Joyce looked to her with interest, listening properly as she carried on, "I know I haven't seen him in a while…years actually…. but I still look out for him…"

Joyce nodded in silent acceptance of this statement. It was what siblings did- looked out for one another. Arlene and herself always looked out for one another as kids and had continued to do so way into adulthood and even did so now. You knew that if everyone else lost your trust over the years your sister (or brother) was always there, no matter what.

"…And I know the type of women he attracts," Jac continued and Joyce immediately felt her defences go back up again.

"And what type exactly would that be?"

"That type," Jac replied simply, "Not afraid of challenge, speaks her mind…not afraid of the vampire or two that will undoubtedly come your way…not easily intimidated." Jac took a breath, "But I also know the other side of that 'type'. They're only ever with him if they truly care about him and he only ever gives them the time of day if he cares of them. I also know," Jac, added, "That they're few and far between. I don't pretend to know what on Earth went on during that dreadful period of time where he ran away from everything he knew…when he was living in the slums of London with god knows who…but in the time I _have_ known what's been going on in his life he's had very few relationships. Very few women he'd ever let in…and you're the only I've know that has stuck around so long- and not run away because of all that being a Watcher entails," Joyce didn't bother to interrupt and add about the factor of Buffy being the Slayer or maybe that some of the women hadn't made it because they _died_ as Jacqueline seemed to be really wishing to get to her point and get it across and so Joyce didn't really wish to disrupt her monologue. "And with marriage- rather a huge commitment wouldn't you agree? It's clear he thinks the entire world of you…. only a few moments in that now presently cramped living room and I could see that. The way he looks at you…" She paused again, before looking at Joyce directly, "I know your first impressions of our family were abrupt and weren't exactly on top form but…. for Rupert's sake if anything…I'd really like us to be friends…of a sorts. Or at least two women who don't _completely_ hate each other"

Joyce smiled in spite of herself. This woman was amazingly human for someone Giles had said had always wished to be a Watcher. She was pretty surprised that she wasn't like following directly in her Father and Travers' footsteps…only female.

"Did you always want to be a Watcher?" Joyce asked casually, an unvoiced agreement of a truce between the two, as she started to retrieve the cake from the oven again and Jac went to help as she answered the question.

"Yes. The moment I was told about it…when I was a little girl…it was all I wanted to do. It sounded so exotic and adventurous." She smiled, "And as I got older I began to see the more substantial advantages also, of course,"

Joyce smiled also, as she placed the cake on the side; on it's large art-deco design glass plate.

"Surely you must have thought at one point like 'oh no, no thanks- I have other plans,'" Joyce reasoned but Jac shook her head, "Not even as a teenager?"

"Rupert never wanted to be a Watcher you know," Jac said, not actually answering Joyce's question.

"Yes," Joyce told her, accepting the distraction technique, "He wanted to be a grocer or a-"

"Fighter pilot," The both said in unison, smiling afterwards, both mutually warming up to one another.

"This chocolate cake looks delicious by the way," Jac told her, tentatively reaching out to take a lick of the flicked melted chocolate topping on her finger. After a taste she smiled in delight, "Tastes delicious too."

"Well, uh, Tara- you know the blonde girl in the living room that _isn't_ Buffy?" Jac nodded to show she knew who she meant, "Well, she helped me out a lot with this. It was her idea in fact"

"Got to love a girl with great ideas," Jac smiled, "So should we ah take this in there, then?"

"Just a minute," Joyce told her, eyeing one side of the cake, where during baking it overflowed slightly and spread around one part of the edge of the cake, creating a sort of, now solid, chocolate puddle. Joyce headed over to the nearby drawers and pulled out an ordinary dinner knife to cleanly slice away the excess chocolate. When the piece was finally broke off in her hand she automatically popped it in her mouth.

* * *

As both Joyce and Jac walked back into the living room and placed the appealing-looking chocolate cake down on the coffee table, they caught the looks on every person's face. A look that clearly said more than one slice of that cake was going to be theirs. 

"So," Edward spoke, stopping Joyce from going back into the kitchen for plates.

"So?" She asked, knowing he was hinting for her to get some point he was trying to make but what the hell was she supposed to get from the word 'so'?

"I don't believe I've had time to discuss this with Rupert yet, so I supposed now, while you're both here, would be as good a time as any"

"For what?" Joyce asked, her tone now suspicious as she cast a nervously confused glance Giles' way and he shrugged slightly to show he was as clueless as she was.

"Well, as you know, our family has had generation after generation of…" He paused as he looked around at the members of the Taylor family and sighed, "Of _librarians_ and well we have young Edward here-" He pointed out Ted who was still talking to Dawn and so looked slightly confused by the mention of his own name so randomly, "but well, that's only one. It would be rather preferable to have more than a few descendents to carry on…the library…tradition"

"What?!" Joyce exclaimed, finally understanding what Edward was getting at, "You want us to have _kids_?!"

"WHAT?" Buffy exclaimed at the same time as Dawn, Willow and Xander and even, Tara realized, Giles. It was as much a shock to him as everyone else.

"We're not, we can't have-" Joyce began to protest but Edward carried on talking.

"I know you might view it as a little 'late', most people have their children in their late twenties, early thirties at the most, but you have to understand the circumstances"

"I do." She said and Giles looked over at her in panicked surprise before she continued, "and those circumstances are that we are _not_ planning any children" She told him firmly and he went to argue, but she stopped him, "End of discussion" She looked down at the chocolate cake, wondering what it was she had been planning to do, before it finally came to her. "I'll, erm, I'll go get some plates"

"I'll help you with that," Xander offered, wishing to leave the thick tension that was the Summers living room.

"Well that was a shockorama of diabolical proportions," Xander commented as they walked into the kitchen.

"Tell me about it," Joyce agreed, stopping in her task to get plates to look at Xander, "I mean where does that guy get off? He just comes in here, looks down on my _entire_ family and then suddenly decides he's the family planning agency?" She let out a brief, not-too-loud, expression of annoyance and anger, thinking over what had been said, "Plus-" She added, "I've had kids. I've been there- and any thoughts about going through it all again just…well…it gives me the wig"

"The wig?" Xander laughed, "You are spending _way_ too much time with us"

"Probably," She joked, "You know this whole thing has had me and Rupert stressed for weeks," She admitted as she opened the cupboard door, which contained plates and glasses. She was tempted to get out the company plates- special guests and all that- but realized, with the mood she was in now, she really couldn't be bothered. "We've not even-" She stopped suddenly as she realized who she was talking to and began focusing intently on getting the plates out of the cupboard and putting them on the kitchen side.

"Not even what?" Xander asked, walking over to take some of the plates to carry in.

"Nothing." Joyce told him, but he looked unconvinced, "What I mean is it's nothing you want to hear"

"Oh come on," Xander tried to convince her, "I know I may not exactly be Dr Laura when it comes to relationships, but I can promise I won't completely freak and walk out the room a la a more masculine Buffy"

"Well you know with the worry and all…we haven't you know…." Xander looked completely clueless and she rolled her eyes as she realized she was just going to have to say it and kill him for it afterwards, "we haven't been having sex lately Xander. Rupert and I haven't been having sex."

"Oh." Was all Xander said in response as he realized perhaps Joyce had been right, and he didn't want to hear that, but he had dragged himself into it now.

"Or been kissing much at all…." Joyce added as an afterthought, "I mean with all this and then Dawn and Glory…it's all leaving very, very little time for well-"

"Smoochies?" Xander filled in immediately his eyes revealing slight panic.

"Yeah," Joyce agreed, grabbing the rest of the plates and closing the cupboard door, "I mean he's been all work, work, work. Doesn't a guy need a little downtime?"

"Well, I, erm, I know I do," Xander admitted as they started to walk out of the kitchen, "But it's Giles. You know- Watcher Man. He won't stop until the problem's solved."

"I know…I know…." Joyce admitted, "I know it's right and it's what he and the rest of us should be doing…but it doesn't mean I can't complain about it"

"Not at all," Xander agreed just as the two of them reached the living room, "Take heart- we have plates and a knife to cut this baby with."

"Hey Slayer- where you at tonight?" Everyone looked to see Spike stood behind them, having just walked in through the front door.

"Where am I at?" Buffy asked, not believing the his tone or the flippancy by which he'd asked, "What do you care anyway?"

"Wh- why, well, would I-" Spike stuttered at the question, "Well, I _don't_. Just vamps out there getting a little antsy. Sun setting and all that. Figured you might actually be out there. You know doing your job"

"I will be doing." Buffy told him, "In a minute. But right now, I'm here so _go away_"

"Vamps?" Arlene asked in confusion, "Is that a new term?"

"You have a job Buffy?" Grace asked and Buffy looked genuinely worried as she was asked these questions, no cover-ups coming to mind. Luckily though, Spike spoke again and distracted both Grace and Arlene from wanting answers to their questions.

"Bit of a party in here." He commented lightly, "Who are you lot then?"

"Spike…." Buffy said in a tone warning him not to push it, "This is my family," She gestured to the Taylors, "And these are Giles' relatives"

"Oh," Spike sniffed and then fully got the implications of what she had just said. Clueless people one side and bloody Watchers on the other, "Oooh! Well, erm, I'd best be off then. Told you…you're needed at work so erm I'll go now. Don't wanna bother you"

"Spike?" Jac asked, the name ringing a bell and then her eyes widened in realization, "William the Bloody?"

"The bloody reference isn't what you think." Buffy assured her Mom's side of the family when she saw their expressions, "It _really_ isn't"

"Well…uh…." Spike tried to think of a way to excuse himself from Giles' sister, but realized there would be very little point, "Yeah, actually. Like I said- gotta be going."

And with that he was quickly gone, preferring not to stay in the presence of several Watchers, not to mention all of them being relatives of Giles, who on a number of occasions had made it very clear to Spike how much he disliked him.

"You just let him go?" Edward asked incredulously, "Like that? Buffy could have staked him right there and then"

"Well, it's ah, very, erm, well it's very complicated," Giles, told him but his Father looked unconvinced.

"Yeah, he's kinda good now," Buffy, explained, "Ish…"

"Stake? Vamps?" Arlene continued to ask, "_What _is going on?"

"Erm…" Joyce searched for an explanation, explanation read: lie, "Vamp is erm…slang…. for…thugs! It's slang for all those…thugs that roam the streets." Her family looked surprisingly convinced, but still very much confused, "Buffy's a…. volunteer policewoman"

"I am?" Buffy frowned and her Mother threw her an urgent look, " I mean, I am." She grinned nervously at her family, "Yeah, gotta stake…. gotta stake those vamps. Yeah."

"Yeah, doing her bit for the community," Willow added with a smile.

"We all do," Buffy told her family, grabbing Xander, Willow and Tara, "All of us…volunteer police…people."

"What?" Xander asked, wondering why the heck he and the others were being pulled into this lie.

"Which is why Spike was here just now," Buffy carried on 'explaining', "He was reminding me it's my…that is _our,_" She gestured to her friends, "shift. We'd best be off on patrol" She dragged her friends through the living room, to the front door. She turned back to look at the Giles family before leaving, "It was nice meeting you"

"So, can we cut this thing now?" Dawn asked impatiently once Buffy and co had left the house.

"Yes," Joyce told her, and so consequently, everyone else, "But you're only having one slice."

"Mom…" Dawn whined in protest, "Why?"

"Need I remind you what happened last time you had chocolate cake?"

"I was twelve then…and the curtain rail was eventually fixed, but I'm not exactly gonna get hyperactive now am I?"

"One slice," Joyce repeated, showing her daughter that she wasn't going to relent.

"Fine," Dawn grumbled, mostly because she felt embarrassed about the way her Mom was being in front of Ted, "Just so long as you know that you're no fun"

"I'll survive," Joyce smiled.

* * *

"Well, I'll say one thing for her," Edward mused aloud after taking the first bite of his slice of cake, as did everyone else, except Joyce who resolved not to have her own slice, her whole attitude about the entire evening making her very not-hungry, but she opted to occasionally take a piece of Giles' slice. "She can bake a decent cake." 

"I would appreciate it if you would stop talking about me as though I'm not here." Joyce told him warningly and Brian put down his plate of untouched cake and gestured for Giles to follow him into the kitchen. Giles put down his own untouched cake and did so. While he was gone, Joyce puzzled over why Brian had asked him to leave the room to talk and decided to ask Giles later. While waiting she started to nibble, almost subconsciously at the cake slice that Giles had left behind. There was just over a quarter of the cake left on the main plate, so she could easily have gotten her own piece but…she really couldn't be bothered.

"What's the matter?" Giles asked as soon as he and his brother were in the kitchen and out of the earshot of the others.

"She's a nice enough woman Joyce," Brian said simply and Giles knew it would ultimately lead to something further so he chose to just question him outright.

"Meaning what exactly?"

"Well, as I said, she's rather lovely but…she's not exactly…" Brian searched for an appropriate choice of words, "Our type of people is she?"

"'Our type'?" Giles repeated incredulously, "What the hell is 'our type of people'? You mean she's not a Watcher?"

Brian didn't say anything, which was, in Giles' view, the same as him having screamed yes from the top of his lungs.

"Neither was Mum," Giles countered and Brian sighed.

"Yes…I know…but that wasn't the same…she was still- in our circles if you know what I mean- on our level of…thinking."

"You mean she was upper class enough to be allowed into the tight circle that is the Watchers' Council?" Giles translated smoothly, before turning angry, "I can't believe you would stoop to something as low as this. This is beyond….what on earth gives you the right to judge Joyce like that?"

"I'm just telling you what I know-"

"What you think," Giles corrected, the tension audible in his voice.

"Like you said though," Brian added, "Mum wasn't a Watcher either," He paused to look Giles evenly in the eye, "And you know what happened to her because of the involvement"

"That's-" Giles could hardly speak in response. Not only was his brother using their own Mother's death…murder at the hands of an Mm'Fashnik…to make a point, which was low enough but he knew how easily that simple statement would plant the seeds of worry in Giles' mind. What if that sort of thing _did_ happen to Joyce? It was fully possible. But, she was the Mother of the Slayer- that sort of thing was possible anyway. Hadn't Joyce said as much herself?

"The truth, and you know it," Brian finished the sentence for him. Giles didn't say anything in reply but silently headed back into the living room where he saw his cake had been slightly demolished, just over a quarter of it gone, from Joyce picking at it. Presently though, she wasn't nibbling away as she was talking on her cell phone, a look of concern on her face.

"How the hell should I know?" She was saying as he took his seat beside her again and few moments later Brian returned to the room also. "I don't have an 'attitude' Carole…I'm just a little busy at the moment ya know?" She was silent as Carole answered on the other end and once she heard what was said Joyce sighed a sigh that clearly showed what Carole was asking of her was going to require effort that she didn't want to give, "Fine, it's all good. I'll be there in five." She hung up and looked at the group around her. "That was erm…" She looked at Giles to talk to him directly, "That was Carole at the gallery. I'm pretty much needed apparently. Something's gone all wrong…or something." She looked at the rest of the group, "I'm sorry, but I'll, erm, I'll be back as soon as I can. Promise. I'm just kinda needed at work for a little bit." She smiled apologetically at them, feeling terrible not that she was leaving all of them, but rather that she was leaving Giles alone to deal with them. She gave him a quick kiss goodbye before grabbing her keys and heading out the front door leaving them all to their slices of chocolate cake. She briefly wondered who would be the first to get the extra pieces.

* * *

"You said it was a problem," Joyce said simply as she viewed the situation in front of her at the gallery. 

"Well there was…." Carole admitted, "We just need you here to sign for it to be fixed"

"Fine," Joyce agreed with a roll of the eyes, "Whatever. Where's the signy sheet thing that I have to get all signature-happy on?"

"Erm…just here…." Carole said, handing the sheet to her, throwing her friend a wary look, "Are you okay?"

"I'm cool…why?" Joyce said as soon as she finished signing and she handed the sheet back.

"You just seem a little…off…like you don't really care about this right now…" Carole told her,

"No, I'm just…. all preoccupied. With this family thing I guess. It's getting me all…freaked out. His family aren't exactly the uber friendly type"

"…And you're kinda talking strange…." Carole added.

"Huh?"

"Like a lot more slangy…like you're spending way too much time around your daughters and their friends…you know…teenagery…I mean, you're sure you're alright?"

"What?" Joyce asked, as something clicked distantly in the back of her mind from what her friend had said, "Slang…teenagery…. but…" She didn't know how, but she recognized those symptoms way too much. But why wasn't she more affected? Unless it was progressive. Either way she really needed to get to Buffy…and Giles…if Giles was still, well, Giles… "I've gotta book," She told Carole, "Like right now. I'll see you"

She was barely out the door when she was already on the phone to Buffy, praying for her eldest daughter to pick up the phone.

"Buffy!" She exclaimed in joy, once she answered.

"Mom?"

"Yeah, hi. Listen, something really freaky is going on and I'm kinda thinkin' we're gonna need your help real bad."

"Freaky? Real…" Buffy repeated in disbelief at her Mom's choice of words, "Why did you s-" Buffy paused, obviously having the same thought her Mom had had moments ago, "Oh god. You're not-"

"No, I'm fine…ish. For now anyway. But I don't know how long…or anything really. I have no clue what's going on. I'm driving home now and I just hope the rest of them are pretty much of the good….but…"

"I get ya, we'll start heading over now- wait, why are you not at home?"

"I had to go to the gallery- but just hurry huh?" And with that she hung up.

* * *

Buffy clicked off her cell phone and put it back in her pocket as she turned to look at her four friends who had been forced to help out with patrol. 

"We've got a problem."

"What problem?" Willow asked, "Did something happen at the house?"

"I don't know…I hope not…" Buffy answered honestly, "But that was Mom on the phone." She looked at Willow and Xander, as Tara had no experience with the previous case, "The Band Candy effects are making some kind of comeback"

"What?!" Both Willow and Xander exclaimed.

"Not in a major way," Buffy assured them, "At least not yet anyway. Mom just…was talking a bit like a teenager really. We've gotta get home and check the rest of the adults are okay…"

"Especially Giles?" Willow filled in, reading her friend's mind.

"Exactly," Buffy agreed as they all walked off.

"What's the Band Candy Effects?" Tara asked as they walked and they all began to explain the freaksome events that had occurred in their last year of high school.

* * *

Joyce couldn't open the door fast enough as she finally reached her house and stepped inside, slamming the door behind her. 

"Rupert we've got a bit of a-" The word 'problem' fell silent on her lips as she took in the scene in front of her.

These were definitely not the group of adults she left behind. Her sister didn't look as proper as she had before and now had a stance and a look of disgust in her husband's direction that hadn't crossed her face since her days in High School when she'd been a cheerleader. Her proper, below-the-knee skirt had been hitched and rolled up and so now it was several inches above the knee and the long-sleeved shirt she'd been wearing had been cast aside and she wore the simple yet pretty cami top, that she had been using as an undertop.

The husband whom she was throwing looks of disdain at was in fact loud and confident and seemed unafraid to make his opinions known, acting as though he was the final word on everything- completely the opposite from the usually quiet personality Peter had adopted.

Her Mom was one of the most shocking to see. She was evidently and clearly very, very drunk and an empty bottle of wine lay beside her while a half empty glass of white wine sat in her hand. And even more shocking and grotesque for Joyce to witness? She was clearly coming on to an apparently unaffected Edward- except for the leering look he was giving Grace. Joyce resisted the urge to retch and for now was too shocked to tear her Mom away from him as she wished to do.

Her Dad didn't seem to care at all about this flirting…or anything at all in fact and was slouched in his chair, clearly sulking about something unknown to Joyce.

Brian was worryingly missing, while Jac had discarded the blazer of her designer suit (the item tossed carelessly on the floor) and kicked off her shoes and tights and now sat there picking her nails after picking up the remote and flicking on the TV. She then seemed to get bored with both these things and headed over to look at Buffy's portion of the CD collection.

Her husband Harvey no longer seemed to have any interest in her and the way he walked and the stance he held made him seem incomplete without a high school letterman jacket and he was actively flirting with Arlene and Arlene was returning the affection- the two so very close to acting on their flirtation and Joyce's mouth dropped open in shock at the two of them. They were both married after all.

But the one thing that confirmed Joyce's entire band candy fears? The déjà vu appearance of the way Giles was dressed and was acting and the clear fact that Giles had left the building and Ripper had strolled right in.


	17. Crush Part Three: Band Candy

zigpal- thanks for clapesque review. teehee. And yah- you caught my candy hints. hehe. I thought it would be an interesting way to deal with the future in-laws. haha.

rabidreject- thanks for review and yah- Ripper est back. hehe. Hope you like.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so one final part of Crush to come after this and then I'm done with this particular episode. hehe. And then I think it's just one more chapter until the Wedding episode. ooh la la. haha. Read. Enjoy. Review.**

* * *

"Oh god…" Joyce breathed as she took everything in and Ripper, at the sound of her voice, first noticed she was there and a predatory grin spread across his face. 

"Hiya luv," He greeted her in the all-too-familiar working class, London accent as he walked over to her and Joyce immediately felt apprehensive. Last time he had been like this, she had been a 'teenager' also and so the entire thing had simply been thrilling and exciting, but now she was still an adult- except for the way she was talking a lot of time which had given her the scary feeling of not having control over her own mouth- the Ripper persona, even it's early stages, worried her a little. He was, after all, very unpredictable with violent tendencies.

"Rupert," She said in greeting in a wary tone as he came closer to her, until there was hardly any distance between them.

"Ripper…" He corrected her, speaking into her ear in a sexily low tone so uncontrollable tingles rushed through her as she heard the seductive intent in his voice. She hadn't been exaggerating when she had owned up to Xander before about what had been bugging her lately and as he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her immediately to him so all distance between them was closed and she let out a little 'oh!' in surprise, she realized that all those problems could be solved right now with how eager Ripper seemed to be. Suddenly, his lips were on hers, the kiss possessive and showed he was in control of the entire thing, his movements rough and careless as he plundered her mouth. And despite not being a teenager herself, she felt the pleasure of that familiar thrill arise. It seemed too long since Giles had been able to pay this sort of attention to her- the situation with Glory taking up so much time- and now she enjoyed every second of it, subconsciously wrapping her arms around him. But then it wasn't _really_ Giles was it? Well, it was…. but not quite. He was his teenage self…. while she was still an adult (more-or-less)…which meant in essence she was kissing a teenager. Which was wrong, so very wrong she realized and she pulled away from the embrace.

"Now erm…" She said, sounding a little distracted as she tried to ignore the lingering feel of his lips on hers, "Now erm…that was uh…. nice, yes," She told him, as she slowly started to head into the living room to check on the other 'adults', "But now I'm-" He wasn't impressed with her breaking the kiss, or her starting to move away now and in one swift movement he grabbed her wrist and pinned it to the hall wall with his hand, "-staying right here apparently," Joyce finished as she glanced at her trapped hand and then at Ripper in front of her.

"Don't do that again," He warned her, but rather than be offended by the command she actually found it quite the turn-on. She had to snap out of this.

"Rupert," She began as she started to push him away slightly with her one free hand, "I- this isn't really a good- oh!" She let out another involuntary 'oh!' of surprise yet again as he used his other hand to pin her left hand parallel to her right against the wall above her. She sighed in slight frustration as she realized Ripper clearly didn't like being reasoned with and apparently had a took-what-he-wanted policy. She glanced up at her hands being pinned to the wall by his own before looking into his eyes as she spoke to him directly.

"You realize this like compromises the whole free will thi-" She was cut off by him kissing her roughly again, just as Buffy and her friends walked in- Anya now apparently in tow.

Buffy truly didn't know what to expect when she entered her house, except that to expect a houseful of adults who were for now, teenagers she had to expect the unexpected. However, she _still_ hadn't expected to walk into the hall to see her Mom pinned tightly to the wall by Giles at the wrists as he kissed her. Apparently this meant her Mom had completely teened out since her phone call. Well, Buffy thought, as she looked at the two of them, at least her Mom wasn't wearing a mini skirt…though Giles' ensemble was now freakily familiar.

"It's like reliving a bad memory," Willow commented lightly as she took everything in.

"Welcome back to High School, I hope you enjoy your stay…." Xander said, apparently slowly loosing the will to live as he caught sight of Joyce's Mom and Giles' Dad.

"This is interesting," Anya, commented looking at everyone with curiosity, just as Ripper broke his kiss with Joyce for just a moment and Buffy's Mom caught sight of them.

"Oh hi guys…" She said casually as though she weren't pinned to a wall, only the slightly less-than-casual tone to her voice gave that fact away, "Buffy?" She gestured at Ripper with a slight nod of the head, "Little help?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and walked over to re-enact a scene from two years ago as she pulled Ripper away from her Mom.

"Oi!" Ripper automatically protested, while Joyce merely dropped her hands down beside her, rubbing her wrists slightly.

"Mom?" Buffy asked, as she kept Ripper away from her easily, with just one hand, "Are you okay?"

"What? I'm fine…. he's just a little…." She looked at Ripper, "Persistent"

"I mean, are you still- all adulthoodish?" Buffy asked.

"No," Joyce said her tone completely sarcastic, "That why I just answered your first question how I did." She rolled her eyes, "Jeez." She then paused to look at Buffy, "I'm an adult most of the time anyway…" She corrected, giving her an apologetic shrug for the previous overly sarcastic comment, "But these _really_ aren't," She told her daughter as she led Buffy and her friends into the living room. Where Arlene and Harvey were making with the uber smoochies. "Oh my god!" Joyce exclaimed in shock at her sister, heading over and pulling her sister away from him. "What on earth do you think you're doing?

"Hey," Arlene complained, "Do _I_ pull you away from your boyfriends? No."

"He's _not_ your boyfriend," Joyce argued, "You have a _husband_"

"Oh come on, he's totally lame." Arlene rolled her eyes, "Like I would be seen dead with _him_." And with that she went back to making out with Harvey and Joyce turned to Buffy with a look of helpless disbelief.

"See?" Buffy said knowingly, "See what I had to go through in senior year?"

"It's really odd, isn't it?" Tara commented as she took it all in, "I mean they all look like themselves…but they're acting so different" She cast a nervous glance at Ripper, "And he's kinda scaring me…wouldn't a teenage Giles just be Giles but…teenagery?"

"Oh how many before you have had that misconception," Xander said sympathetically putting an arm round Tara in a guru-friendly way as he explained to her the story of Ripper- the cliffsnotes version. Buffy didn't have the option of adding in any information and helping Xander with the explaining as her eyes suddenly fell on Grace and Edward.

"Grandma!" Buffy exclaimed in utter disgust at the way the two of them were so very much all over each other.

"What? Huh?" Grace asked, looking over in Buffy's direction, squinting slightly as though she couldn't quite focus, "Hey Buffy." She grinned before looking at Edward, "its Buffy," She told him, before looking back at her granddaughter as she held up the empty bottle of wine- one of many, "You got any more o'this? We're out."

"Oh my god…are you _drunk_?" Buffy asked in disbelief, just thinking to herself how glad she was that her Mom hadn't totally regressed this time, "I don't believe this"

"This is just totally gross…" Joyce said simply as she looked at her Mother and then at her couldn't-care-less sulking teenager of a Father. Willow patted her on the shoulder sympathetically.

"We've gotta figure out how this happened," Buffy said to them all as Joyce flopped on the sofa, choosing to no longer look at everything around her, afraid she'd catch sight of her Mother or sister again. She glanced to the side and saw half a piece of chocolate cake left. Whose it was she didn't know, but right now she didn't care. She needed a little pick-me-up after that little sight. "And why Mom is only a little affected"

"Wait," Tara stopped Buffy in her planning tracks as she looked around the room, "Where are Dawn and Ted?"

"Oh god…" Buffy said, looking around in panic, "I hope…. right erm…" She pointed to Anya and Xander, "You two check the back garden and the kitchen. Willow? Tara? You two check the upstairs rooms. I'll look in the rest of the rooms and check outside and that." She looked to her Mom and saw Ripper heading over to her again. Her Mom seemed to employ an ignore policy on his actions as she carried on eating the remaining piece of cake, "Mom? You stay here and make sure Giles doesn't do anything too stupidly Ripperish."

"Sure," Joyce told her casually, not seeming too bothered that Dawn was missing.

As the group all set off in separate directions, Buffy saw Jac slipping on a The Donnas CD onto the stereo. She was merely thankful that the teenage Watcher had at least opted to put on some good CDs.

* * *

"Dawn? Ted?" Tara called as she and Willow walked along the landing and two fourteen year olds came out of Dawn's room. Willow hoped nothing more than talking had gone on. Like _really_ hoped. 

"All the adults are acting rather odd," Ted told the couple and they both nodded in agreement.

"Like band candy odd," Dawn added.

"I know…we're…uh…. we're working on it," Willow told her, but she didn't sound very convincing.

"But your Mom's pretty much normal though," Tara added.

"Really?" Dawn asked, true hope and relief in her eyes.

"Yeah," Willow confirmed before looking at Ted, "Yours is very much gone though"

* * *

"Found the Dawnster," Willow announced as the four of them came down the stairs and she saw Buffy stood, frozen, as she looked on at something happening in the living room, The Donnas album a running soundtrack. "What's the matter?" 

"I left," Buffy said simply, "And when I came back, everything had changed" She pointed out what she was looking at and Willow turned to see Joyce looking way more relaxed around Ripper than she was before. In fact as she chewed gum- it's bright pink color revealing it to be from one of Dawn's packs- Ripper had his arm tightly around her waist and she was leaning into him like…well, like a lovesick teenager. It seemed Joyce had joined the regression ranks although she hadn't altered her clothes like the rest, the black trouser-jeans apparently being doable for teenage Joyce, although her blouse had been unbuttoned a little lower and she now pulled away from Ripper temporarily to sort her hair out in the mirror.

"I thought you said Mom was okay…" Dawn said worriedly.

"She was…." Willow replied weakly, not understanding either.

"This is just too much…" Buffy said, looking around, "There's just too many of them…"

"Hey-hey, what's going on?" Xander asked as he and Anya returned. He was looking in the direction of Joyce, who was not as bad as the rest of them while she styled her hair and popped gum, she kept grinning girlily in the direction of Ripper.

"Do you think it's a spell?" Anya supposed, "I mean you said it was a spell on the candy last time…so maybe this time it's just a spell"

"Maybe…" Willow agreed before looking at Buffy, "Do you think Ethan's back in town?"

"No, he wouldn't dare come back after the last few…." Buffy trailed off as a memory came to her.

_"Okay all three of us are unhappy about our non-choice. One thing is for sure though- if anything goes wrong I will personally kill Ethan myself," She paused for a moment, "Where is Ethan? He said he was just going to fill the bowl thingy with water." _

_Instantly suspicious, Buffy left her Mom and Giles stood in the living room as she walked quietly toward the kitchen. She walked slowly in not knowing whether she expected Ethan to still be there or not. He was though. Stood in front of the fridge, with the door open and leaning in. _

_"What are you doing?" She asked abruptly and in shock at hearing her voice he jumped and hit his head on the top of the fridge. "I thought you came to get water"_

The chocolate bars that Buffy had seen in the fridge…. Buffy looked over at the empty plate that had once held the cake slice her Mom had just devoured- her Mom now a teenager herself…the chocolate bars had been used to make the cake…Ethan looking in the fridge…he was behind the original band candy…oh god. She turned to Tara.

"Where did you put the wrappers?" She asked her, "The wrappers for the chocolate you used for the cake?"

"Erm…on the side…" Tara said, unsure why Buffy was asking her this, "On the kitchen side"

Tara had barely finished speaking before Buffy ran off into the kitchen and at a loss of what else to do the others followed.

Buffy dashed over to the side where she saw the screwed up piece of chocolate wrapping. Unfortunately she found it just to be silver foil, as if the outer wrapping had been ripped off. Then she found it. It was only small. No wider than one and a half inches in diameter, but it was enough. It was purple and there was the edge of a simple font cut off. Buffy would bet the farm it said 'milkbar' and further advised the buyer to support the school band.

"That son of a!" Buffy exclaimed, screwing up the paper once more and throwing it aside.

"What?" Xander asked, non-plussed.

"Ethan!" Buffy exclaimed in explanation.

"Ethan?" Xander repeated.

"When he came here, a few months ago…you know when-" Buffy didn't finish what she was saying but the group knew what she was talking about, "He must have put those candy bars in the fridge and…" Suddenly, she thought back to Christmas with the improvised dessert her Mom had made with the very same bars. Her Mom and Giles had got…. well, pretty frisky then…oh god. And the rest of them…Willow giggling girlishly at Xander, Xander being clown-like, she had been completely grossed by her Mom and Giles…. just as if they were sixteen again. Crap- the bars now worked on them as well? Well, it would make sense…they weren't teenagers anymore…but still…. in one word…crap. "They've all been band candied up." Buffy told them all, choosing not to share her revelation over Christmas- the fact that she could now be affected by the band candy made her feel vulnerable and also…old. Damn, what not-being-a-teenager could do to you. "Mom must have had a little of the cake before going to gallery so she was slightly teened…then when she had the rest of that cake slice just now…damn!"

"How do we make it stop?" Tara asked, looking around at Willow, Xander and Buffy for answers, "I mean, how do we change them back?"

"We don't," Willow replied, "I mean we didn't last time. It just like gradually wore off…different times depending on how much they had eaten"

"But with it being _baked_ in we don't know how long this'll make the effects last," Buffy reasoned, "We need to figure out like some kind of reversal spell"

"Mum," Ted said simply and everyone looked at him with a frown.

"Huh?" Buffy asked.

"Ted, what'd you mean?" Dawn asked him and he began to explain,

"Mum, she's very adept at reversal spells. It's her speciality."

"But she's a teenager now," Anya said to him, "Which I've heard isn't going to make her the most co-operative"

"Well, Mum always wanted to be a Watcher for forever right? So even as a teenager she'd-"

"She'd still be eager to x-file it," Xander finished with relief, "Let's get to your Mom."

* * *

"I'm bored," Joyce whined, looking around at the scene around her. It was bad enough that her Mom was totally grossing her out, but her sister was seriously annoying her, "Can't we go to The Bronze?" She asked Ripper as she popped a bright pink bubble, her hand slipping in his. 

"The Bronze?" Ripper scoffed, "Not bloody likely"

Joyce rolled her eyes at him. What the hell was his problem with The Bronze? It was a good enough place to go.

"Fine. Whatever," She told him, taking her hand out of his, "Well _I'm_ goin' anyway" She started to walk off but he grabbed her hand roughly and she stopped in her tracks.

"You're not going anywhere," He told her.

"Gonna stop me are you?" She challenged him, "How? Gonna pin me to the wall again?"

"Maybe…" He reasoned, stepping closer, "But I thought we were gonna go out and find some fun"

She grinned at him and he returned it, but the smile soon faded from his face when Peter walked over to him.

"Hey," He greeted Joyce with a leer.

"Hey…" Joyce said slowly in return, but had a very unimpressed expression on her face as she looked at him.

"How about you find some fun with me…?" He asked her, clearly having listened to her and Ripper's conversation.

"Ew…no…" Was all Joyce said in reply, but as Peter went to protest she was nudged aside as Ripper stepped towards Peter threateningly.

"Back off," He told him, "From my girl."

"How about no?" Peter challenged, "And who's saying she's _your_ girl?"

"I do," Ripper replied simply, but the threat in his voice was clear.

"Whatever London," Peter replied, sounding very much the non-afraid as he pushed past Ripper and turned on the 'charm' as he walked over to Joyce.

"You're not gonna make that move, mate," Ripper told him, pulling Peter away again as Joyce watched the two expectantly, slight concern her eyes.

"Wanna bet?" Peter stupidly challenged just as Buffy and the others rushed into the room. In one swift move Ripper knocked him back with one fist and knocked him out with the other.

"Giles!!" Buffy shouted at him in shock, heading over to look at her unconscious Uncle. "You can't do that"

"Sod off, sure I can," Ripper protested as he turned back to look at Joyce.

"That was _so_ cool…" She smiled at him, but Buffy shook her head.

"No- not cool Mom. He just knocked out your brother-in-law"

"Yeah," Joyce said as though she had taken what Buffy had said on board, but it was so very clear that she hadn't, "Erm, we're outta here"

"Oh no, no, no you're not." Buffy protested, grabbing both their arms, "You need to stay here until we sort this all out,"

"Screw you," Joyce replied with a scowl, not impressed that Buffy was essentially trying to ground them both,

"Mom…" Buffy's voice was more exasperated than shocked, unlike the first time her Mom had said those words to her a few years ago, "Just-"

"I wanna go out. We wanna go out," Joyce interrupted her, "It's _boring _here"

"_No_," Buffy said in a firm tone that made her friends jump slightly, "You're not going anywhere." Joyce went to interrupt but Buffy carried on talking, mildly aware that she was channelling her Mother's adult self, "Until this has been sorted out, you are not to leave this house. You are not to go out with Giles under any circumstances unless I tell you."

"Oh my god," Joyce complained, "Care to throw in a little foot-binding? I can't believe you're doing this to me. You go out whenever _you_ want and we can't do anything about it-"

"I can't believe I'm going to say this," Buffy interrupted her Mother's teenage rant, "But both of you…go to your room." She paused in thought for a moment, "I realize I can't stop any of your actions in that room, but you are not to leave it except when we call you down or you need to go to the bathroom. Now go."

Knowing Buffy's slayer strength gave her an edge over them, both Joyce and Ripper sulked silently- Ripper trying to keep an essence of cool about it- as they headed up the stairs.

"How long is she gonna be grounded?" Someone asked Buffy in a peppy voice and she turned around to see her Aunt Arlene stood there, Harvey behind her.

"She's _not_ grounded," Buffy replied patiently.

"Sure looked like she was grounded,"

"Well, she's not. Now please just go over there," Buffy asked her, pointing to the empty sofa and both Harvey and Arlene headed over to the seat together without complaint. At least some of these teenagers were easier to deal with. As she walked over to Jacqueline with the others, she hoped Giles' sister was the same.

"You do realize how much you sounded scarily like Mom just then?" Dawn asked Buffy as they walked over to Jac, "Like tone of voice and everything?"

"No, and if you know what's good for you, you won't either," Buffy replied good-naturedly, but just in case Dawn made a note not to mention the similarity again.

"Jac?" Buffy interrupted the woman filing her nails and she looked up at her with an expression of pure boredom.

"What?" She asked impatiently and Buffy sighed. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

She still had the black jeans and high-heeled sandals on, but Joyce had swapped her shirt for a sea-blue spaghetti strap top, which from the look in his eyes, Ripper was very impressed with. She checked her hair one last time, the side curls pinned back, as Ripper opened the sash window of their bedroom. 

He climbed through so he was stood on the trellis along the sidewall and gestured for her to come along after him and she hurriedly did, a giggle starting to tickle her throat. Just as she got her first leg over the window side she heard her sister's voice.

"You know you're not meant to be going out"

Joyce rolled her eyes.

"So?"

"So…you're meant to stay in."

"And yet again, I say 'so?'" Joyce replied.

"If you go out now…I'll tell." Arlene said, sounding, in Joyce's opinion, pathetic, "He's bad news" She pointed at Ripper.

"Whatever," Joyce said impatiently, swinging her other leg over the window so she was now completely on the outside of the house, her hands on the window sill as she looked over at her sister, "Fine. Go. Go tell. Do whatever you want just _go away_." And with that she climbed down the rest of the trellis after Ripper, landing neatly on the ground beside him. The moment she did he easily slipped his arm around her casually and she fell into step with him as they walked off together.

* * *

"What do you mean 'no'?" Willow questioned Jacqueline carefully. 

"I mean I don't want to help…with spells. I'm so fed up of all this bloody abracadabra," Jac replied as she shoved the notebook she had been given by Willow to write down spell ideas into Buffy's hands, "I'm not doing research, I'm not doing spells. I'm not doing Magick"

"Fabulous…" Buffy drawled, looking at the rest of them pointedly before her eyes landed on Ted, "so much for your 'Mom always wanted to be a Watcher' theory"

"Well, that _is_ what she told me," Ted pointed out and Xander looked at him sympathetically.

"Ted, Ted, Ted, my friend," He smiled at him briefly before getting a serious face, "Parents _lie._"

"So with Watcher gal pulling a rebellion it looks like it's down to you and Tara, Will. You've gotta figure out a reversal spell"

"We're on it," Willow told her, before heading off with Tara to begin the researching.

"Can't we just wait for it to wear off like last time?" Dawn asked.

"No…well, I don't wanna risk it," Buffy replied, "It's like I said in the kitchen Dawn, rather than just being eaten, it's been baked into something-the cake- so we don't know what effect it'll have on the length of time the affects last"

"Buffy!" Arlene sing-songed as she bounded down the stairs to join Harvey and then walk over to her niece.

"What?" Buffy turned to look at her.

"Joyce and Rupert are gone," She said simply not without some happy in the fact she was grassing up her sister. No wonder her Mom had told Buffy how much Arlene used to annoy her when they were kids.

"They're _gone_?" Buffy repeated incredulously and Arlene nodded.

"Out the window." She informed her, "like whoosh"

"Whoosh?" Buffy repeated before looking at her friends with a look of complete disbelief, "They climbed out their bedroom window! They climbed out…. I've gotta go find them"

* * *

Spike shook the shards of glass off his duster as he looked around the empty butcher's. He was absolutely starved and he knew there must be stored pig's blood around here. Unfortunately the alarm was ringing loudly so he needed to find it fast before anyone came along to see what was going on. With the blasted chip in his head it wasn't like he could fight them off. He turned around briefly to look outside the broken window, checking no one had already called the cops, to see a sight that made him do a double take. The Watcher wearing something quite unlike his usual suit attire- though as he'd heard Buffy say not too long ago, he had long left behind the tweed almost ever since he had begun dating her Mom- jeans, white t-shirt, leather jacket and also, apparently and shockingly, smoking. Basically looking like, if Spike didn't know him for who he really was, Spike's type of mate. And on his arm? Even though her hair was so very differently styled from normal- combed to perfection and clipped back to one side in a very 70s style- and she was popping gum childishly as she walked alongside Giles, it was still very evident to Spike who she was; Joyce. But why did the two of them look so different? As he went to take a closer look, his foot hit the edge of the glass cabinet in the store and the sound reverberated over the alarm, causing the couple to actually look over, the alarm apparently having no effect on them. 

"Look, Watcher," Spike held his hands up in surrender as he walked over to them, "I'm not doing much wrong am I? Just looking for a bit of blood. Vamp's gotta feed himself aanhe?"

Spike frowned in confusion, as Giles just looked him as though he couldn't care less and was in fact wondering why the vampire was telling him this at all.

"Do I look like I bloody care Spike?" He asked in, to Spike's surprise, a course accent similar to his own, "Sod off"

"Just sayin…" Spike replied, sounding very confused, "What's up with you anyway?"

"Spike!" Joyce exclaimed, as she finally looked over and caught sight of him properly. She smiled at him in a girly way as she casually twirled and stretched out a string of the gum in her mouth, "Whatcha doin'?"

"Robbin' a butcher's what's it look like?" Spike replied, before scrutinising her in more of a way of concern than confusion. He'd always liked Joyce and she was acting weird enough for him to be worried. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Joyce automatically told him, sounding more on the defence than anything, before she smiled with intrigue yet again, "So robbing a store huh?" She asked, peering past him, but not moving away from Giles' arm draped around her.

"Yeah," Spike nodded carefully, wondering whether it would be safe to leave these two even for a moment to find Buffy.

"That is wicked cool," She told him and Spike decided there and then that it _wasn't_ safe. He stepped towards Joyce, going to check she was okay, but was stopped by Giles pushing him back harshly. Harsh enough that Spike fell back a bit and he looked at the watcher in surprise.

"Ripper be careful," Joyce told Giles, looking at Spike with attracted concern and Spike frowned. Joyce was giving him the eye and who the hell was Ripper? The name ringed a bell to Spike and not just as in 'Jack the', either way the bell that was ringing for Spike was definitely a warning one and he watched Ripper carefully as he spoke again.

"Hey, watch who you're pushing Watcher," He warned.

"Or what?" Ripper challenged letting go of Joyce as he dropped his cigarette to step toward Spike threateningly and Spike became aware that the Watcher was actually taller than him. "You'll mime me to death? Piss off you little poncy"

"Well, I'll-" Spike stopped mid-threat as he took in the entire situation with a frown. Giles or 'Ripper' according to Joyce, was threatening him in a working class accent so very different from his usual librarian stutter and Buffy's Mom was popping gum childishly while not only being actively smitten with Ripper but was also actively checking out Spike himself as she walked over to him and Spike stepped back a little. The whole thing was completely…. freaky. "What the hell is wrong with you two?"

"They're teenagers," A fourth voice said in answer and Spike turned to see Buffy running up the street toward them and both Joyce and Ripper rolled their eyes at her and started to walk off in the opposite direction. "Oh no!" Buffy exclaimed, speeding up a little to run in front of the couple. "No you don't. I thought I told you two to stay in your room?"

"What?" Spike laughed in disbelief.

"You did," Joyce admitted without argument.

"And you deliberately went against what I said," Buffy concluded and Joyce shrugged as though she really didn't care.

"So what? You never ever did what I told you too. You still don't."

"Mom I…right I'm not arguing." Buffy decided, "We're going home," And she pushed them in the opposite direction and they reluctantly began to walk that way. Joyce briefly stopped to look at Buffy hopefully.

"Is Spike coming?" She asked and Spike instantly shook his head.

"Oh no Slayer, this once I think I'm gonna stay put-" The sound of police sirens coming nearer and nearer were heard and Spike ran over to the group, "But it's better than facing Sunnydale's finest with a chip in my head" He walked in step beside them much to Joyce's pleasure.

"Hey- are you looking at him?" Ripper asked her.

"I'm allowed to look aren't I?" She challenged and he suddenly stopped walking stopping Buffy and Spike behind them in their tracks also. He grabbed Joyce's chin in his hands, forcefully turning him to look at her. "Hey!" She exclaimed sounding unimpressed.

"No," He told her firmly and she tried to tug out of his hands but he tightened his grip on her.

"You little- you're so frickin' full of yourself always-" She was cut off by him kissing her and she soon wrapped her arms around him and he did the same to her. Buffy rolled her eyes at Spike.

"This is what they're like you know? As teens. Arguing, kissing, arguing, kissing. It's _ridiculous_"

"You are going to have to explain all this to me later," Spike told her, trying to ignore the fact that Joyce and Ripper were rushing off to third base in front of them in the middle of the street, "Leave no details unsaid."

* * *

"You know, since this teenager thing set in Granddad hasn't said one word," Dawn said to Xander thoughtfully as she, Xander, Anya and Ted were on adult watch. 

"I know, he seems highly depressed," Anya commented lightly.

"Maybe that's the type of teen he was," Xander said thoughtfully, "Those sulky always-quiet kinds."

"Yes, it's uh weird seeing them all…as they were in a way," Ted thought aloud as he looked at the adults around, "Mum…as she is…"

"Not giving a damn about anything except her nails and Buffy's CD collection?" Dawn filled in.

"Yeah…but Dad is so…. outgoing and-" Ted frowned as he watched his Dad being all over Dawn's Aunt, "that is just something I can't understand"

"Well, as teenagers they would have got it on," Dawn said, "They'll probably just repress when they grow up to their normal selves"

"Ah yes," Xander sounded nostalgic, "The art of selective memory"

"But Giles' Dad seems pretty much the same…." Dawn said, "Except for the fact he seems quiet smug and pleased by the attention Drunk Grandma's paying him- which, hello? Gross"

"Well, maybe he's always been an uptight moron," Xander proposed before looking at Ted, "No offence"

"And we can't really say how Uncle Peter acts…" Dawn looked down at her Uncle on the floor, "Because well…Giles knocked him out"

"That's gonna cause some problems," Anya said what everyone was thinking just as Buffy walked back into the house with Spike, shoving Joyce and Ripper in front of them.

"Found them" Buffy announced, taking her Mom's hand, "Mom, you're gonna help Tara and Will in the kitchen…come on"

As she dragged her off, Ripper went to follow.

"Hey, what the hell are you doin eh? You leave her alone" Spike grabbed him back, stopping him walking off after Buffy. Vampire strength being stronger than Ripper.

"What's say you and me have a chat eh?" Spike proposed, very interested in this side of Giles he never really knew existed- except for that one time a couple of years ago when he'd set fire to his and Dru's house and almost beat the crap out of Angel. Oh yeah, good times.

* * *

"What can I do?" Joyce asked Willow and Tara casually as she sat up on the kitchen side, legs swinging impatiently. "I though I was gonna help" 

"You are helping." Willow told her, "You're holding the spell book with the list of ingredients in."

"But I don't wanna do that," Joyce protested as she grimaced at the book, "It's old and musty and I'm getting this weird old book gunk on my hands. Can't I do what your doin?"

"No!" Willow told her in a harsher tone than she meant to. It was just Joyce's constant complaints and questions were driving her insane.

"Jeez, fine," Joyce rolled her eyes, "You don't have to get all extreme about it…I was just sayin'"

"Well, don't," Willow, told her, "I have to focus on the spell."

"Erm," Tara turned around to look at Joyce before gesturing at the herbs she was handling, "You can help me here Joyce. We just need to grind all these herbs before we can put them in as part of the spell. You can help with that…if you want"

Happy with this suggestion, Joyce jumped off the side and headed over, looking over the herbs with causal interest.

"So, what do I have to do?" She asked Tara, but threw a dirty look in Willow's direction that, considering the circumstances, made Tara laugh.

* * *

"Right," Buffy said as she came into the living room, "Willow and Tara say they think they've got a spell they can use and they're almost done," 

"Thank god," Xander said with pure relief.

"Why the sudden needage?" Buffy asked, "I mean beside the obvious"

"Them two," Xander replied pointing at the window, where outside Spike and Ripper were stood, both smoking and both apparently getting on very well, "doing the male bonding thing. It's NOT RIGHT"

"Oh…my…god," Buffy breathed, feeling horrified, "Whole world…dissolving…now…"

Suddenly the 'adults' all around them paused in what they were doing, looking at one another in confusion.

"What the hell are you doing?" Arlene asked, pushing Harvey away, "I'm a married woman- what the- get off me!" She shoved the confused Brit away.

"What am _I_ doing?" He asked, "You came onto me!"

Grace and Edward froze in the middle of their ministrations and a now adult Mike caught sight of the two of them, anger in his eyes as he stormed over to the two of them.

Before the group could view how the argument was going to go, Joyce came out of the kitchen with Willow and Tara.

"Where's Rupert?" She asked worriedly and Buffy pointed out the window where Spike and Giles were now arguing instead of bonding. Ah yes, things may be going to hell around them but at least things were back to some semblance of normal.

"Okay…" Jac said slowly, heading over to the group, "What happened?" She asked, casting a concerned glance over at her husband who was arguing with Arlene still.

"A long story," Buffy replied before plastering on a large grin, "Welcome to Sunnydale!"

"But-" Jac paused in whatever she was going to say as she looked around, "Wait, where's Brian?"

* * *

Brian frowned as he felt something like a switch going on in his head. He was topless. At a house party. Of a person he didn't know. And he was in the middle of a Tequila Carwash. What the hell was he doing? He was too old for this- what on earth had gotten into him? He tried to escape the numerous beverages and foods being poured on him, but couldn't escape the teens holding him there and moving him along the table. 


	18. Crush Part Four: Reflections

g120- yeah, one more part of Crush and voila here it is. hehe

Zigpal- thanks for review and clappyness and well, this episode is pretty much all about the post-band candy 2 occurences. And re the buffy-partner sitch, well, I will tell you now I'm a Spuffy fan, but right now I think B's in a 'be alone with Buffy' time but we shalt see...hehe.

* * *

"I do," Grace complained, holding her head. She and Edward were on complete opposite sides of the room and weren't looking at each other once. Plus, Michael wasn't letting go of Grace's hand; perhaps subconsciously afraid she was going to go running off to the elderly Englishman. 

"Well, we did have a lot of that cake didn't we?" Jac checked with them all, fully knowing the story being fed was a cover story. Buffy and the others had explained to her, her husband, her Dad and brother (who had many a story he didn't want to tell when he finally arrived back) what had really happened with the leftover band candy. "I mean, all that sugar and alcohol can send one rather…well rather crazy I suppose"

"I guess…" Peter reasoned, "But I wish I knew how I got this bruise on my face," He said rubbing his sore cheek and Giles, his family and the Scoobies all looked away nervously, some clearing their throats to stop themselves from laughing at the perplexed expression on Peter's face.

"Well, we'd better get back to our hotel," Grace announced, "I know I'm exhausted…and sleeping over here on random pieces of furniture didn't do me any good, I know that much"

On her word the rest of the Taylors also rose in silent agreement.

"Yes, well I suppose we had better make tracks," Mike agreed, heading over to give his youngest daughter a kiss on the cheek, "I guess we'll be seeing you at the wedding then…but hopefully some time in between?" He asked, "I miss seeing you all the time like when you were younger"

"Yes, sweetie," Grace agreed, "It's bad enough Arlene is all the way in Illinois, but…with us in Idaho now and you still here in California…it seems all so damned far away from each other"

"Well, there are a lot of last minute things to do about the wedding…" Joyce reasoned, "But you can always help with that you know…I mean I know Arlene wants final check on all the dresses so…"

As Joyce and her daughters went to say bye to the rest of their family, Grace headed over to Giles, scrutinising him carefully.

"You realize how ridiculous I still feel this all is?" Grace asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"Both of you…. middle-aged and acting like you're both getting married at twenty"

"Well, uh-"

"The point is…. whatever it was that made us all act the way we did- I have a feeling it was all that wine for me…" Grace told him, not letting him finish, "It funnily enough made me remember feeling young again…even though I'm so clearly not. And if you can make my daughter feel that way all the time…which from the way she acts around you…. you evidently can, then, well…." She looked at him directly, making unavoidable eye contact, "Then I don't have a problem with that"

* * *

"So, you explained why what happened, happened," Brian said finally, "But you haven't quite explained how yet Rupert" 

"Erm… you know it was because of the cake…well," Joyce answered instead, "The band candy got accidentally baked into the cake"

"And the 'band candy' is...?" Jac asked.

"It was something that happened…when I was in my senior year of High School," Buffy explained, "We were told to sell the candy to our parents to support the band…. and well, eating it turned the adults into teenagers"

"Like what happened to us…" Edward surmised and Buffy nodded.

"Exactly! Except well…there was no evil plan behind it…" She looked to Giles, "Was there?" He shook his head and she made a mental note to ask about that fact later, "No, there wasn't"

"Well, I could definitely do without it happening again," Jac concluded, giving her husband a pointed look for his antics with Joyce's sister. Harvey immediately turned red with comic embarrassment, before going to defend himself.

"What? It wasn't me!" He argued, "It was the effects of the candy! It had absolutely nothing to do with me"

There and then Joyce and Giles both silently decided never to tell them how the two of them had ended up together.

"Hmmm…" Jac said, sounding unconvinced but a smile was playing at her lips as she pushed Ted and Harvey in front of, signalling for them to start heading to the front door. "Just start walking." She turned to Joyce and Giles, "Well, thanks for erm…having us, despite the less than favorable circumstances." Awkwardly, she gave Joyce a quick and polite hug, before looking at Giles, "It's been nice seeing you again, really, Rupert. Although your teenage self left a lot to be desired,"

"Yes, well," Giles, said in embarrassment, straightening his glasses as a form of distraction and his sister smiled at him.

"Well, see you soon then," She told him, giving him a hug that was a lot less awkward than the one with Joyce.

"Joyce," Brian said simply with a little nod, before turning to his brother who to say looked unimpressed with him was an understatement. Despite the fact that Giles was the youngest sibling, Brian knew it was one thing his little brother had always been excellent and the best at- the look of disapproval. And it was that look that he was getting now. No doubt to do with what he had said about Joyce yesterday in the kitchen. "Rupert," He said simply as he knew there would be more than likely no manly handshake or a hug like Jacqueline had given him. And with that he left also, leaving behind only their Dad.

"Well, things haven't exactly gone according to plan have they?" Edward said to his son, "Everything went rather to hell, I should think, don't you?"

"Yes, well, that's one of the more unpredictable aspects of living on a Hellmouth," Giles replied smoothly.

"Yes, quite," Edward agreed, before looking at Joyce, "You remained rather level headed in such a crisis though," He told her, "That is, until you became as bad as the rest of us,"

"Yeah, I kept my cool…" Joyce agreed, "But still- I don't think it'd be asking too much when I ask you to stay away from my Mother from now on would it?"

"What?" Edward was thrown off by the reminder of his actions under the influence of the cake, "No, no, of course not. Perfectly right to ask, I suppose. I- well, erm…well."

* * *

"No more candy bars are left in the fridge." Dawn concluded as she closed the fridge door, "At all. All gone." 

"As is any remains of that cake," Buffy added, "So," She said, turning to Giles, "What made you so sure before that Ethan didn't have a bigger plan behind this?"

"For the same reason you know it was Ethan behind it," He replied and Buffy frowned.

"You remembered seeing him putting it in the fridge?"

"Well, yes…no…I mean, he just put three bars in there?" He checked, "Casually sneaked them in?"

"Pretty much," Buffy confirmed.

"Well, it's quite simple really. Ethan was doing what he does best- no master plan, just doing it simply because he knew it would create absolute chaos."

"And it did," Joyce concluded, "Like _really _did"

"I suppose that thought amuses him…" Giles said thoughtfully, "Can't imagine why"

His facial expression revealed he was being sarcastic.

"Well," Buffy said, "I'd be sincerely glad if he didn't do anything like that again. Ever. I can't handle you two being teened up." She told the couple, "Last time it wigged me out and this time…it just _drove me crazy_." They looked at her in genuine surprise and she eagerly elaborated, "Arguing, kissing, arguing, kissing, arguing, _groping_, arguing, kissing, arguing, kissing- should I carry on?"

"Actually-I beg you to stop," Giles told her.

"Well, it sounds just like you were as a teenager Buffy," Joyce commented, "At least from what I saw and what you and the others have told me about Angel."

"That's different, he was-"

"A vampire," Joyce finished with a roll of the eyes, "I know. But it's a nice feeling of…payback to have a shoe on the other foot scenario"

Buffy was about to reply when the phone rang and she rushed off to get it before Dawn could. Last time Dawn had answered the phone it had been one of Buffy's college professors…Dawn hadn't known and had at first assumed it was a call center and had said things that had forced Buffy to buy her professor muffin basket after muffin basket in apology.

"I have to say though," Joyce said to Giles once her daughters had left the room, "I did enjoy having all the attention you paid me…"

Giles instantly knew what she was getting at.

"I know we haven't been…. well, _seeing_ much of each other of late what with-"

"Glory and everything- I know, I know." She finished, "I do understand though…it's just…I kinda…well…" He kissed her and words were forgotten and as he pulled away she smiled, "More things like that," She encouraged him, both of them knowing they were going to make up for their lack of 'attention' tonight as they made with the intense smoochies, wrapping their arms around one another.

That is until Buffy walked back into the room, the phone in her hand and all plans flew out the window.

"Giles." She said simply, but there was no response. The couple carried on kissing and Buffy rolled her eyes, "_Giles!" _

At that the two did actually break apart.

"'Bout time," Buffy complained, holding the phone out to him, "It's Anya. You're needed at the store. Some customer thing. I don't know"

As he reluctantly took the phone off her he looked at Joyce apologetically.

"Rain check?" He asked and she sighed in resignation, trying to keep a smile on her face.

"It seems to be what we do best lately," She replied before heading out of the kitchen and Giles put the phone to his ear while Buffy just stood there looking puzzled.

* * *

Later on, after the Gileses had long since left the house and Buffy was out with her friends, Giles was at the Magic Box and Dawn was in bed, Joyce sat out on the back porch alone, for a breath of fresh air. There was a rustling in the bushes and Joyce turned to see Spike heading over to her, most likely coming to the house to pester Buffy some more. There was no malice anymore now and it always seemed more like playful banter. 

"Joyce," He greeted her simply as he took in the fact she was back to wearing one of her thin, simple, yet prettily designed bateau neckline jumpers and trousers. Also the fact that she wasn't chewing gum. "Back to normal, I see"

"Very funny," She told him, sounding extremely unamused by the mention of it all.

"Well I thought it was," He admitted as he took a seat beside her, "You two…." He started laughing, "You two sneaking out behind Buffy's back." He laughed even more and she looked even _less_ amused as she thought on the events. The first time she'd been affected by the band candy but for it to sneak up on her again? She was just utterly and completely ashamed and embarrassed. Of course, there was the upside that it had humbled some members of Giles' family.

"And let's not forget…" Spike added, "You were checking me out"

"I was _not_ checking you out!" Joyce immediately protested.

"Oh that's why you were giving me the eye then?" Spike challenged and Joyce sighed.

"I was thinking like a teenager okay? And I was just…." She struggled for a term to use that would sum it up, "appreciating what was there"

"I'll bet," He said knowingly but Joyce once again looked very unamused at being reminded of the events.

"Oh come on luv, you've gotta find it a little bit funny," Spike appealed, looking back at the house briefly, hoping that Buffy was going to come outside soon. Seeing him being amiable and chatting with her Mom might even give him an edge after all.

"I didn't find it funny the first time…so why should now be any different?" Joyce challenged evenly but Spike just looked surprised and confused.

"First time?" He asked, "This wasn't-" As he asked this he immediately saw the look of regret on her face- she hadn't known that he didn't know. Huh.

Joyce automatically went to get up and leave, intending to head back into the house without saying another word, but he tugged her back down insistently.

"Oh no, you can't say and not explain. Can't leave a guy hangin'. What happened the first time?"

"Nothing…._ much…_" She told him, but he looked unconvinced as he looked at her expectantly with a raised eyebrow, knowing there was more to be said, "Well…that time…every adult in Sunnydale…. reverted to their teenaged selves," She told him, "It was madness really."

"Yeah?" Spike checked and she nodded, but he still looked unhappy about how little she'd said, "But I wanna know about how you and the Watcher were specifically"

"Spike…" Joyce said, sounding very reluctant, but he just looked at her silently, not letting her get away with it and she sighed in resignation, "Fine. Well…the band candy…was erm…well; it was how Rupert and I met. In a 'meeting' kind of way…you know-"

"Ah…." Spike nodded in understanding, "A teenage kiss lingered into adulthood?" He filled in knowingly, but Joyce seemed uncomfortable as though he hadn't got his facts quite right but she didn't want to tell him this. More fool her, "What? What is it?" He scrutinised her, "More than a teenage kiss?"

"Buffy would kill me if I told you…and then I'd have to kill myself," Joyce told him, but Spike's curiosity had been peaked and he wasn't letting her get away with that easily.

"No…what did you do? Rob a store together?" He asked jokingly.

"Well…erm yes…." Joyce admitted, causing Spike to emit a short sound of amused surprise, "It was for a coat," She explained, "For me. I wanted the coat…and he got it for me"

"Jeez, sentimental even as a frickin' teenager," Spike shook his head before looking at Joyce again, "Did he get caught by the coppers though?"

"Mm-hmm…" She nodded, smiling at the memory now rather than cringing in embarrassment, "But he erm…well, he didn't fancy getting taken to Sunnydale Jail to put it lightly and he…uh, he knocked the policeman out." She laughed a little as she thought of the way her teenaged self had watched the entire thing eagerly, "I shouldn't laugh but…"

"No, you should." Spike encouraged her, a wide grin on his face, "So anything else happen after that? Or did Buffy turn up to ruin your fun again?"

"No…well, let's just say it involved the police car hood…. and handcuffs" She refused to say anymore that and Spike sat there, frowning in thought as he puzzled out what she'd just said. Then his eyes became wide in surprise as he looked at Joyce again, "You didn't."

"Erm…yeah…we did," Joyce admitted sounding nervously embarrassed once again. Why did she admit to so much? If she had to, she would guess it was because Spike just always seemed like an easy person to talk to. It was so easy to forget he was a vampire. Or that he didn't have a soul. But what part did that play in any of it? He'd helped them out just as many times as Angel had. And he hadn't tried to kill her…like Angel had. So what did having a soul really mean anyway? If anything? "Twice," She added and Spike's eyes got wider if that was at all possible, "And _then_ Buffy came along and ruined our fun"

"Twice…on a…with…" Spike laughed in disbelief, "Bloody hell…you kinky pair," He laughed some more, "I never knew Giles had it in him." He paused. "Got to know his teenage self a lot more last night though"

"Yeah, I heard from a horrified Xander that you two had been getting on for once," She said to him and Spike nodded in agreement.

"Yeah uh 'Ripper'- definitely my type of guy."

"I don't doubt it," Joyce agreed as she briefly thought over the similarities between Spike and Ripper.

"He's come far since then hasn't he?" Spike asked, thinking of how Giles had gone from upper-class child to a very rebellious (and apparently eventually very dangerous) teen…up to his mid twenties…and then made it all the way back to being the good guy again. Spike could relate to it all…and shockingly found himself able to empathize with the Watcher. Spike had been the upper class stuttering librarian type centuries ago and now he was at a pretty badass stage- having been the Big Bad and all…but like Giles, could Spike make it back to being a good guy? He would always be a vampire…so could he be a good person? Was there as much hope for him as there had been for Giles?

"More than you know…" Joyce agreed.

"Yeah," Spike sat there in silent contemplation a moment with Joyce. "I think I may even start laying off him a bit. Stop being the thorn in his side you know?"

"I don't think you ever will, or will ever want to, stop being a thorn to him, but I appreciate your promise to try"

"Yeah, I will…" Spike said, more to himself than anyone.

* * *

It was much later on than that when Buffy still wasn't home, probably out patrolling or at the Bronze- she had talked about seeing the intern from the hospital, Ben, not too long ago, having thanked him from looking after Dawn not too long ago and Joyce believed the two of them had the potential of becoming an item. Buffy was at least showing interest, if the way she talked about him was anything to go by. Well, Buffy wasn't home and Dawn was still in bed when Giles arrived home from the store. 

She was in the kitchen, her back to the door to the dining room, when he walked in. She heard his steps and turned to look at him, smiling almost involuntarily. As they met in the room they kissed warmly, before pausing just to hold each other, her cheek resting against his. And then just as they seemed to rest into one another they pulled apart to look at each other again, both feeling how incredibly long it felt since they'd had a night together. One night where they didn't worry about the fate of the world.

Her arms went around his neck; his left hand was on her waist behind her back, the other brushing across her neck, her cheek and her hair. Then they slowly pulled apart as they led each other out of the kitchen and slowly and quietly up the stairs up to their bedroom.

Seemingly silently, there was the fluid sequence of clothes coming off before the two of them were naked in bed.

All responsible thoughts were forgotten for the second time as he held himself just above her and moved his chest slowly against her belly and across her breasts. He did this again and again, as he kissed her lips or ears or ran his tongue along her neck.

Responsibility lay behind in the top drawer of the bedside table, but it was a distant reminder, far, far away from them. They would make love for an hour, maybe more, before he rested beside her and while his arm rested around her, her palms rested on his hands peacefully.

* * *

The next morning Joyce woke up calmly…which soon morphed into slight panic. They hadn't used any protection last night…and she wasn't on the pill. She couldn't be on it- she'd tried once, but had soon been informed by her doctors as well as finding out first hand, that she was allergic to some of the components. Just great.

And now- crap. Why had they forgotten? They never had before now. But they'd been so lost in the moment…curse those damn moments. Too worried to relax in bed any longer, she climbed out from underneath the cupboards, Giles remaining sleeping, and she headed into the bathroom.

Well, she didn't feel sick. But then again she didn't straight away when she was pregnant with Buffy. But she'd been twenty years younger then…easier to get pregnant. Now, there wasn't really much chance was there? And just because of one night? No, she was being ridiculous. She'd always had a talent for being calm about the big things, and panicking over the ridiculously small. And that was exactly what she was doing. Panicking over a non-existent problem.

She was due this week and when she started, it would just prove how stupid her fears were. Of course…she could just go to the pharmacy for the morning after pill. But wasn't that a form of abortion…_if_ she was pregnant that is. Which she wasn't. Wasn't, wasn't, wasn't. She was just being silly.

What she needed to do was get dressed and go to work. Focus on other things.

* * *

When Buffy came home ranting about her recent Spike revelation, Joyce wasn't really listening. She nodded and hmmed concernedly in all the right parts, but her mind was decidedly elsewhere.

"Mom?" Buffy questioned, "Are you listening to me?"

Joyce didn't answer, a stare on her face only proved to both Willow and Buffy that she wasn't.

"Joyce?" Willow prompted, sounding concerned.

"Hmm?" Joyce looked up at them both blankly before closing her eyes and shaking her head as if to clear it, "Sorry I was…I was just thinking. Erm," She looked at Buffy, "Did he actually tell you? Spike, I mean, did he actually say the words 'I love you'?"

"No…" Buffy admitted, "I didn't let him get that far…but I could see the words coming"

"Honey did you…" Joyce searched around for an appropriate way to phrase her question, "did you somehow, unintentionally, lead him on in anyway? Send him signals?"

Buffy suddenly looked uncertain, as she seemed to mentally go over all recent encounters with Spike.

"Well, I do beat him up a lot," She reasoned, "For Spike that's like third base."

"Scarily true," Willow agreed.

"In that case," Joyce said carefully, thinking things over, frankly glad to be able to think about something else, "I think maybe you should go talk to him?"

"What? Mom!"

"You need to talk things through, clear things up for Spike…kindly…and then maybe all this won't seem so dramatic"

"Mom! I can't believe you even think this situation can be a reasonable one,"

"Buffy," Joyce said simply, "Sit down."

Buffy did so.

"Now, I'm not kidding myself- I know Spike's a vampire and that in anybody's books that should officially strike him off the dating list," Joyce told her, "But that didn't stop you dating Angel did it?"

"Mom you can't possibly be comparing Spike to Angel!"

"Maybe I am…what am I saying is…although you may not be interested in Spike that way…what he's feeling is not that far-fetched"

"Yes it is," Buffy, argued, "He has no soul"

"So?" Joyce countered, "He's saved our lives as many times as Angel did and _Spike_ hasn't tried to kill me."

"But Spike is still the bad guy, as he keeps reminding us time and time again"

"Yeah, well, sometimes bad guys get better," Joyce said knowingly, "And Spike is trying to change. Trying to change for _you_ no less. I just don't think it would hurt for you to at least talk to him instead of storming over there, guns blazing"

"Fine," Buffy sighed, "I'll go. I'll go do the talking thing," Buffy stood up to look down at her Mom on the sofa, "But if this goes wrong I'm fully blaming you"

Joyce stood up also, and put both hands on Buffy's shoulders so her daughter was now facing the front door.

"Fine, I accept that. Now _go." _

Once Buffy was out the door, Joyce noticed that Willow was squinting at her.

"What's the matter?" She asked.

"I don't know…" Willow answered honestly, "You're just all…glowy"

"I am _not_ glowy!"

Willow jumped back slightly at the snap in Joyce's tone of voice.

* * *

"Yeah, great plan Mom!" Buffy shouted as she stormed back into her house, "talking to him went _great_"

"What? Honey, what happened?" Joyce got up from her seat on the sofa next to Giles to walk over to her daughter.

"_Spike_ and his crazy ex _Drusilla _electrocuted me and chained me to a wall that's what happened. And then Harmony came along for the ride!"

"Oh dear," Joyce said simply, having nothing else to say as she realized how horribly wrong everything had gone.

"He then tried to make some big show of how he would stake Dru for me and then showed how thoroughly this is an obsession, not love, by monologing to me while I _was still chained to the wall_!"

And on that note, Buffy stormed off up the stairs and Joyce half ran after her.

"Is there something wrong with me if I find that all very passionate and romantic?" she called up the stairs.

Buffy didn't answer, but Giles did.

"Yes,"

* * *

"You know I can't invite you in," Joyce said, as she stepped out into her back garden, spotting Spike hovering in the bushes, "Buffy would never forgive me"

Hiding space found, Spike stepped out into the open and walked over to where Joyce was stood.

"I really bollocksed everything up,"

"Yeah, you did," Joyce agreed, "From what I've heard anyway." She paused, "But everyone makes mistakes"

"Not like this I don't think," Spike countered, shaking his head in disbelief at his own actions.

"You know it could never have worked anyway, don't you Spike?"

"I guess," He grudgingly admitted.

"But I did talk Buffy into giving you the benefit of the doubt. To talk to you instead of beating you senseless"

Spike looked at her in surprise but then groaned in depression.

"Then I really buggered things up didn't I? Bloody hell."

There was nothing more to say to him right now. Her heart went out to him, he looked so lost, but he needed to sort this all out on his own. So, as he stood there in the garden, thinking it all, wondering to himself how he let everything go so horribly wrong, she gave him a slight smile goodnight and headed off in the direction of the house.

"You're not the only one," She murmured to herself.

* * *

Oh yeah baby, another little story arc beginning. Or two really if you think about it. So would _really_ appreciate feedback more than usual this time. Because, well, I know exactly where I'm going with this storyline (I think...haha) but I wanna see what you guys think of everything first.

Also, my internet browser is playing up lately so my updates may be a little all over the place, but hopefully it'll be sorted out soon.


	19. I Was Made to Love You

g120- Thanks vair much review and don't worry I'm all over with the going. hehe. And yes, Joyce's advice did go mucho crazy. haha

zigpal- Haha, you're reaction to Spuffy potential made me chuckle. But don't worry, I won't be overdoing the Spuffy angle and in fact I'll be going a slightly different way about it than they did in the show. And well, we'll see about romantic interest for Buffy...we shalt see...**.::taps nose knowingly::.**. And you like the J/G baby potenialness? Hehehe. Well read on mon amie.

Your worshipfulness- thank you very much for review. you made me blush! hehe, but I'm glad you think this is getting better and better and that you like how it's written. Thanks. :-)

rabidreject- thanks or review and you like both plot lines? Yay. And yes, I have mega plans for seeing red. hehe. and yes, they'll be plenty angel/spike agro. haha- them two used to make me laugh so much in season 5 Angel- they were so childish! And my fic's one of the top 3/4 ones on this site? I'm on a flattery high here. Thank you very much. **.::big cheesy grin::.**

* * *

A/N: So I fixed my interent. Did some system32 searching, found the file that was messing everything up and...erm, well deleted it. Oh yeah, Willow eat ya heart out. haha. As for this chapter- it's pretty much just a developmental, pre-wedding thing and nothing major really happens...but the next chapter is the wedding...so ooh la la. hehe.

* * *

"So our dresses are ready to try on today?" Dawn asked her Mom eagerly, the moment she was up. She and Buffy were obviously bridesmaids and they had already tried on their dresses, but they'd had to be fitted and altered constantly, so neither of them, at least in Dawn's view, had really got the proper feel of wearing the dress. Just the feel of being a living pin cushion. But today the dresses were finally finished and it would be the final time they would try them on before the actual event. 

"Yes, yes," Joyce told her as she handed Dawn her breakfast that was pancakes. "We'll be heading over there later- when Arlene arrives"

"Cool." Dawn said, taking a bite, "So will we get to see your dress? Coz we pretty much haven't yet. Just occasional glimpses of unattached pale blue material"

"You've been spying on me," Joyce commented with a slight smile of happy disbelief.

"Well what was I supposed to do at the dressmakers? Buffy was on the phone to like whoever was calling her…and you will all tied up with the dressing…so what was I supposed to do? Sit there on my lone wolf lonesome?"

"A daughter's duty I suppose," Joyce decided giving Dawn an amused-scolding look, before starting making her own breakfast. Which…considering how good Dawn's looked, she decided was also going to be pancakes.

"Hey!" Buffy greeted them cheerily, as she came in through the back door, full dressed, "Morning all"

"Morning," Joyce smiled back before frowning as she took in her daughter's workout attire, "You've already been training?"

"Well, yeah…" Buffy admitted, snatching one of Dawn's pancakes and ignoring her sister's complaints as she carried on talking, "Well, Giles was already going off to the shop like in the wee hours so decided I might as well train as soon as. So I tagged along. Took out some of my Spike-Likes-Me frustration"

There was silence at this comment, both Joyce and Dawn being quiet fans of Spike and hating the current situation for what it was. Aware of this, Buffy quickly changed the subject.

"So dressy people today?" She checked and they both nodded, "And Arlene's gonna be here…. when?"

Joyce looked at the clock on the wall behind her.

"An hour or two. Why?"

"No, no reason- just wanted to embrace personal hygiene before we set out. In a bit," She went to head out of the kitchen, but stopped when she saw how many pancakes her Mom was piling on her own plate, "Jeez, you're hungry" She commented lightly and startled by the comment Joyce looked down at the plate, seeming just as surprised as Buffy by the amount. Buffy just shook her head with a smile before heading upstairs to the bathroom for a much wanted shower.

* * *

"So, I don't get to be your best man?" Xander asked sounding insulted as he followed Giles around the Magic Box, insisting he answer the question fully. 

"Uh…" Giles feigned thinking about it for a second before telling Xander in no uncertain terms, "No"

"Why not?" Xander immediately asked, "Just coz this Daniel guy's coming here. Pfft, you see me more than him,"

"A fact that fills me absolute fear I assure you," Giles told him and Xander's mouth dropped open in shock for a moment.

"Oh no, I see what you're doing," Xander told him, "You're trying to insult me and get me mad so I won't _want_ to be your best man- well, nice try, but it ain't workin',"

"Xander, as much as you have…uh, _matured_ over the years and have on more than one occasion proven what a great friend you can be and not just to Buffy…no. I am not having a 20 year old boy whose speech will no doubt include numerous inappropriate jokes, as my best man"

"There wouldn't be jokes!" Xander protested but Giles just gave him a glare and Xander finished with, "Much…"

"Xander-"

"Just let me be your second," Xander interrupted and Giles frowned.

"Pardon?"

"Let me be your stand-in-best-man…man," Xander asked, "Like if this Dan guy can't make it, I stand in his place"

Giles seemed to debate this possibility but Xander could see he was leaning towards the negative so he leaped in to defend himself.

"Oh come on, what harm is there in that? He's probably gonna make it anyway…."

Giles rolled his eyes in resignation.

"Fine, fine, you can be 'stand-in-man'," Giles told him and Xander immediately let out a mini woo, "Now can you _please_ let me carry on with what I'm doing?" He asked as he sat down at the round table, pen and paper in hand.

"What _is_ it you're doing?" Xander asked, not moving away, but rather taking a seat across from him instead.

"Things that you should leave me alone for," Giles retorted and Xander feigned being offended before asking again.

"No, seriously, what are you doing?"

Giles sighed a sigh that revealed his patience was wearing thin.

"I'm writing my vows," He told him, before adding, "Or at least trying to"

"Wait, you've left them this late?" Xander asked in disbelief, "No way"

"Yes, I know," Giles knew what he was getting at, "I'm leaving it so very much to the last minute, but Joyce _isn't_ to know. She's already written hers and I have claimed to have done the same"

* * *

"You know, this pad looks just as empty as it did three weeks ago," Dawn commented, picking up the pad of lined paper her Mom had begun to draft her vows on several weeks ago. It had settled into a home in the newspaper rack ever since her Mom's first attempt. 

"Really?" Joyce asked innocently, snatching the note pad away, "How odd"

She walked off into the kitchen taking the pad with her away from her meddling daughter.

"You do know like this whole wedding deal is next week right?" Dawn checked, following her to the kitchen, "And this is the kinda deadline you don't really wanna be late for"

"I know…." Joyce admitted, inwardly cringing at her own slacking off, "It's just everything's been all over the place lately…and I really don't know what to write yet. It's just Rupert said he'd finished his so I said I had too…. so you can't tell him. At all. I will just…. finish them up tonight. Or today. Or something," Dawn looked unconvinced so Joyce added, "Soon. I'll finish them soon"

"For them to be finished," Dawns said as she took a seat at the island, "I think you have to start first."

* * *

"Hey! Door was open!" Arlene called when she arrived at her sister's house. She peered into the living room and saw no one there, or anyone anywhere in fact and so she headed in the direction of the kitchen. 

Walking in she found her sister and her youngest niece sat at the island together talking. Dawn looked as she always did- the sweet, little fourteen year old, but in Arlene's opinion there was something different about Joyce. She looked different. Maybe it was the fact the wedding for so close but she looked…. more colorful. No, that wasn't the word. Lively, that was the word in a way. Not that she wasn't lively before and not that she was bouncing around the kitchen now, quite the opposite in fact, but there was just something…. different…that was making everything about her seem even more alive. The excitement of the wedding, Arlene surmised.

"Hey, Arlene," Joyce smiled in greeting when she saw her sister, "Great timing. Buffy should be ready in a few so…we'll erm get going then"

"Kay," Arlene nodded, before heading over to her niece with a smile, "Hey Dawn- how's it goin'?"

"Pretty much the same as usual," Dawn told her, "'Cept we get to try on our dresses today- which you know is way better than _not_"

"I hear ya," Arlene smiled, just as Buffy came into kitchen.

"Hey Aunt Arlene- does this mean we're ready to roll?"

"Yes, honey, we are," Her Mom told her, grabbing her car keys off the side. Dawn however snatched them out of her hand and handed them to Arlene, "Hey! What are you doing?"

In answer Dawn handed her Mother the blank pad and a pen.

"Aunt Arlene drives," She told her, "You start writing your vows"

* * *

"_Joyce, I take you to be my-_" 

"No, no, no," Xander cut off Giles' first attempts at his vows, "Boring start. Too traditional. If you're going to write your own vows you want it to be personal to you two. Bring in the Band Candy sitch if you want." Xander paused, "In fact. I strongly advise it."

The phone began ringing, but rather than get up himself, he trusted Anya to answer it.

"You can't seriously think I would talk about that during-" Giles was cut off my Anya calling him.

"Giles, some really weird sounding guy on the phone. Dan-yul. Or something"

Immediately realizing who it was on the other end of the phone, Giles abruptly cut off his conversation with Xander by getting up and heading over to the receiver Anya was holding out to him.

"Hello, Daniel?" Giles said into the phone and Daniel greeted him from the other end, "Yes, it's fine. Anya. Yes, she does have a nice phone voice. No, she's, no she's taken Dan."

Hearing this, Anya smiled widely, looking very pleased with herself about the one-minute impression she had made on Giles' friend. She looked over at her boyfriend though to see he was scowling.

"Yes, they used to keep me very busy too." Giles was saying, "No I don't supposing helping Joyce and I would have helped you much ei- what? What do you mean they aren't letting you go? It's only for two blasted days. Well, they're being darn unreasonable, damn- fine. Yes, thank you. Yes, fine. Fine. I know you have to- right, bye."

He hung up, looking very unimpressed by the conversation that had just transpired. He looked over in the direction of the table he had been sat at to see Xander sat there with a very smug smile on his face.

Looked like he was going to be Best Man after all. Bugger. Then again, things could be worse.

* * *

"How could things possibly be worse Arlene?" Joyce asked incredulously as they arrived at the dressmaker's. She had just got off the phone with the woman who had been hired to design and make the wedding cake. Only to find there was no such record of their hiring her, "My cake's gone AWOL" 

"True…" Her sister admitted, "But they've put you down on the list now…ahead of everyone else on the list as well"

"Yeah, but now she's only got a week to do it, instead of the original month of planning we gave her." She sighed in frustration, "How could we have disappeared off the list?"

"Calm, Mom, calm," Buffy urged, "One thing at a time right?"

"Right," Joyce agreed, smiling weakly before they stepped into the store together, "Right"

They had barely been stood inside the small front of the store, before a woman came out of the back heading over to them with a large smile. She was small- five foot- and very animated. Red hair and the dithery sort- but in more of an endearing way than annoying. Her name was Kath and she owned the entire store and had been working with Joyce and her daughters individually over the past months over their dresses.

"Joyce, here for the final check on the dresses?" She asked and smiled when Joyce nodded,. "Buffy…Dawn…" Her eyes fell on Arlene, "But I don't believe I-"

"Arlene," Joyce's sister filled in holding out her hand for Kath to shake, "I'm Joyce's sister"

"Oh, I'm Kath." After shaking Arlene's hand she looked to Joyce again, "Well would you like to come through?" She asked and led them through the little door into the large fitting and changing area- a room covered by too many mirrors to be complimentary to the beholder.

"I love this room," Dawn commented eagerly, spinning around and laughing as she saw each and every one of her reflections do the exact same thing.

"I love when your maturity shines through like this," Buffy said to her sarcastically and her sister stopped spinning to scowl at her.

"Now it's Joyce G isn't it?" Kath checked, "I'm sorry it's just we have two Joyces at the moment. Odd really, it's not a common name"

"G?" Buffy questioned and Kath nodded eagerly with a smile.

"Yes, for 'Giles' right?"

"It goes under what you're going to have as your married name Buffy," Joyce explained

"Joyce Giles?" Buffy scrunched up her nose in distaste, "You're gonna be 'Mrs Giles'?"

"Well it's not like I was going to keep Summers was it Buffy?" Joyce said and Buffy frowned so Joyce hurried to explain, "What I mean is…it doesn't well, set the right tone for a marriage if you're keep your ex-husband's name does it? Now if it was my maiden name it'd be a different thing _entirely_"

"But doesn't this mean…we won't have the same last names?" Dawn asked, not liking the sound of this at all.

"Well you could always change your second name as well…" Joyce suggested with a smile and was surprised to see Dawn actually seriously contemplating this. Buffy on the other hand had the predicted response- utter shock and distaste.

"Buffy Giles? I _really_ don't think so." Buffy told her, "I'll stick to 'Summers' thanks"

"Thought so," Joyce laughed as Kath came back with only two dresses in her hands. And neither of them was her own.

"We seem to have a little problem," Kath told her, laughing nervously.

"Problem?" Joyce asked nervously, almost treading over Kath's words, "What problem?"

"Well, you know like I just said about there being two Joyces?" Kath prompted and Joyce felt she already unfortunately knew what happened, "well…it seems Joyce H has erm…been given the wrong dress"

"WHAT?!" And yet, despite knowing before it was said, Joyce still shrieked in shocked anger.

"It'll be sorted very soon, don't worry," Kath assured her, "Because well…she's not going to want the wrong dress is she? It should be here tomorrow, because we only gave it her earlier this morning" She saw Joyce looked very upset still, and understandably so, and so hurried to make the customer happy, "But I can call her family now, they've left a number…double check they can bring it back as soon as possible." She looked to the others, "They're out of towners you see." And with that she left to head for the phone at the front reception.

"This is too much, how can so much go wrong all at once?" Joyce asked them all, once Kath was gone, "It's just one thing after another and then another thing on top of that"

"Joyce, it's okay…" Her sister tried to calm her down, "Everything will be fine."

"I'm sorry- it's just everything's all over the place now and everything just seems to be coming down around me," Joyce's voice bordered on hysterical as she carried on talking, but never quite reached that level, "It's just the wedding's only one week away and so much needs to be done still and I need to write my vows and then the ceremony has to be confirmed and rehearsed and my dress could be in Chicago now for all we know and I think I might be pregnant and now my cake's gone AWOL and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Buffy interrupted, picking up in all the babble one shocking piece of information, "Stop world, I wanna get off. What was that you just said?"

"My cake's gone AWOL," Joyce repeated, apparently completely oblivious to what she had just confessed to.

"No the other bit…" Buffy prompted, "The bit where you think you're _pregnant?_"

Her Mother didn't say anything, but merely stood there silently.

"Joyce…?" Arlene prompted kindly, "Is this true?"

"Well…I've…erm…I've missed a period-"

"But since we were teens you've never done that," Arlene interrupted, "You're like freakin' clockwork"

"Thank you…" Joyce said slowly, not sure how to take the comment, "But that's exactly why the pregnancy scare. I mean last week, Rupert and I kinda…" She glanced at Buffy and Dawn briefly before looking back at Arlene, "We kinda you know without you know…."

"Oh…I know." Arlene nodded, showing she understood Joyce's 'code'.

"And so…hence my whole 'argh I might be pregnant thing'"

"But why 'scare' or 'argh'?" Dawn asked, "Shouldn't it be pregnancy happy and 'yay'?"

"Dawn…" Joyce smiled at her naïve daughter lovingly, "It wasn't actually ever a plan of mine to be a mid-life mommy…"

"But just because of…a one time slip-up…" Buffy reasoned, "doesn't mean you're automatically gonna get pregnant. I mean you've 'slipped up' before…you know on the car hood…"

"What?" Arlene asked, startled.

"It's a long story," Joyce said simply, before turning back to Buffy, "I know…I know it's not…but it's not impossible you know?"

"I know," Buffy said, forcing herself to push away her own wiggins to comfort her Mom, "Well have you taken a test?"

"No…" Joyce admitted, dropping into a chair and putting her head into her hands, "I've been kinda afraid to…" She admitted before lifting her head out of her hands to look at them all again, "I mean I haven't even told Rupert…and I don't want to. Not yet anyway. Not till…well not till whatever. So please, don't say anything? To anyone? At least…not yet"

* * *

At a dorm in UC Sunnydale, Buffy and her friends were at a very much-needed party. Buffy had felt, with Glory and everything, she definitely needed some down-time before she collapsed. But with her Mom's little confession earlier on at the dressmaker's she felt she needed it even more. 

Sure her Mom had admitted she didn't know for sure but….still, the entire thought of the potential of it had been plaguing Buffy's mind ever since. What if she really _was_ pregnant? That would mean in nine months there would be a tiny little baby just like when Dawn had been brought home.

But there'd been no demons then. Now- would a baby ever be safe? And the responsibilities of it. Sure, they'd all chip in, but still, in their lives there were _extra_ keep-it-safe responsibilities.

And would it be a brother or a sister? And what he/she be like? Would it take more after her Mom or Giles? Art geek or book geek? Would it use Americanisms or Britishisms more?

And that was the other weird thing- Giles would be his/her Father. A mini Giles. It was all too wigsome if she thought on it too much.

Giles didn't know anything yet and her Mom wanted to keep it that way for a while, but Buffy really needed to talk to someone about it. Anybody. Xander and Willow? Xander could definitely keep a secret….but Buffy also really wanted to tell Willow, but her little hyperactive best friend had a tendency to accidentally spill the beans.

"Am I really that boring a dancer?" Xander asked looking down at Buffy as they danced together.

"What?"

"You not even dancing with me anymore. Just kinda stood there, occasionally swaying," He commented, "What's up?"

"Nothing's up, I promise," Buffy smiled at him, "I am just full of having dance fun."

"Nice try," Xander told her, "Though I can't deny my dance skills are phenomenal enough to ensure you have a fantabulous time I can tell something's bugging you. Spill"

Buffy squirmed, not knowing whether she should say anything at all or not.

"Well it's not really a bug…it's just, well, I'm not supposed to tell anyone really…" She rolled her eyes after that, "God, could have I sounded any more like a fourth grader?"

"Well possibly you could have added a rendition of the song I Know Something You Don't Know," Xander offered and he got the reaction he was aiming for- Buffy smiled.

"Xander- if I tell you something do you promise you'd keep it your up most secret, secret, secret? Like as in tell no one, _including _Anya"

"Yeah, sure," Xander told her sincerely, his face becoming serious as he looked at her, wondering what it was she was going to tell him, "Of course. What is it?"

"It's Mom…"

"What about her? She's okay right?"

"Yeah, she's fine," She assured him, "Or as fine as she can be right now. It's just…"

"Just what?" Xander prompted as Buffy trailed off nervously.

"She thinks…" Buffy leaned in as they danced so she could tell Xander directly and make sure no one else could possibly overhear, not that they would anyway, "She thinks she might be pregnant…. with Giles' baby," She added the extra information as though it wasn't already blindingly obvious.

As she said this Xander stopped dancing and pulled away from Buffy to look at her with an expression of complete shock on his face.

"_What?!"_ His voice was quiet, but the tone was a shout.

"Well, she's really not sure yet," Buffy told him immediately not wishing for him to go all crazy suddenly, "She hasn't even told Giles anything. And she doesn't want to, not yet anyway. Which is why you have _really_ gotta keep this quiet"

"Right, right," Xander repeated to himself like a mantra, before looking at Buffy again, his expression wide-eyed and sincere, "but if it is Buffy…. you realize…this is huge?"

"I know…" Buffy admitted, Xander's words causing the full force of it all to sink in, "I mean it's gonna be like a baby…like one of those pink small crying things that we used zombie eggs to symbolize in home ec in High School." Suddenly, at that thought she became panicked, "Oh my god. And that went horribly wrong. It could go that wrong with the real thing. Demons, vampires, they're everywhere. Also crashing my house and if a baby was there…oh god, they might crash the baby"

"Okay, calm, calm, let's be calm Buffy okay?" He asked her, miming slow breathing and she copied, "See my shock thoughts were more leaning towards 'The baby would be Giles'…. and Giles would be a Dad…with your Mom being the Mom…again'. Ya see?"

"Yeah that too." Buffy agreed, "But that part I can't handle right now which is why I'm panicking about other things."

"Like zombie eggs and-"

"Do you know Warren?" Xander was interrupted by a pleasant-looking brunette questioning him with a bright smile.

* * *

"And you're certain she was a robot?" Giles checked the next morning at the magic store. They were all talking about the events that had happened at the dorm party the night before and Joyce was trying very hard to focus on what was going on, but she felt like she was going to throw up. Again. She was beginning to suspect that a pregnancy test wasn't needed. Still, she wasn't ready to share. 

If only Xander would move his goddamn sandwich away from her.

"Willow's already checked the Sunnydale enrolment," Buffy was saying.

"And got nothing," Willow added, "I found one Warren but he moved out of the country a year ago. I'm checking nearby schools"

"Are you okay, Joyce?" Giles asked, looking to her with concern. She looked very unwell in his opinion and she kept throwing looks of disgust in the direction of Xander's sandwich.

"Yeah, I'm fine…just feel a little off…" She told him, just as Xander's sandwich swung precariously close to her as he leant in to see what Willow had found- that being nothing. It was too much. Joyce jumped up and ran off in the direction of the toilets. It was only then that Xander registered the connection between his sandwich and what Buffy had told him last night. Then he felt extremely guilty.

"Joyce!" Giles called, but Buffy stopped him going after her.

"Food…poisoning…" She told him, "Must have been that…well whatever you had for dinner last night. She'll be fine in a few minutes. In fact, you keep researching and I'll go check on her"

Before he could even attempt to argue, she was gone.

"Mom?" Buffy called as she walked into the bathroom and winced when she heard her Mom retching unceremoniously in one of the bathroom stalls. "Mom?"

She found where her Mom was and found she had, thankfully, stopped throwing up for now.

"Hi, Buffy," She greeted her weakly, managing a faint smile and Buffy smiled back sympathetically.

"Guess it's no longer a not-so-sure,"

"Guess not…unless it really is food poisoning," Joyce attempted to joke, but when she saw it didn't wash she sighed in resignation and seemed, in Buffy's opinion, completely at a loss, "This isn't…I've been a Mother Buffy. For twenty years and I've still got years of looking after Dawn…and now to start all over again?" She sighed once more before looking Buffy in the eyes, "What am I going to do?"

"Tell Giles?" Buffy suggested but her Mom shook her head.

"No, no, not yet. I need to sort out my own head first…before I mess up his…and the wedding. Maybe we should…oh god, the wedding. And…my family…oh god- _his_ family," _Now_ she looked panicked, "They're gonna want it to be a Watcher aren't they? I don't want her to be though. Or he. Or…I just don't want that"

Buffy sensed pregnant woman hysteria coming along and she hurried to intercept it.

"Okay, remember what I said yesterday? One thing at a time," She told her slowly and Joyce visibly seemed to calm, "Let's just focus on the wedding okay. Let's work through that, _then_ we'll work on telling Giles, _then_ we'll work on what to do after that okay?"

"Okay…" Her Mom's voice was a whisper but it was an agreement and that would do for Buffy. She flushed the chain on the toilet, before helping her Mom up.

"Come on, we've got a robot to…de-robotize…or whatever you do to robots," Buffy said but Joyce paused for a moment.

"Can you do me two favors though?" She asked.

"Anything," Buffy told her earnestly.

"Get Xander to throw away his sandwich and…let go of my arm because I can't stand your perfume."

Buffy let go, but looked hurt. She sniffed herself.

"But it's DKNY" 


	20. The Wedding

Zigpal- thanks very much for review, and as usual also the claps. haha. And well, you'll just have to see how everything goes for the wedding. And well, there is some potential non-Spike interest for Buffy here but won't go more into it until the wedding party. Which isn't in this chapter...hehe.

rabidreject- thanks and well, hope you like this chapter too.

* * *

"Okay we have Giles and _all _guys on official lockdown at Xander's till tomorrow," Buffy said to all the women bustling about in her now-seemingly-too-small home. It was the night before the wedding and the women of the family were organizing last minute details of the wedding party that would be at the house, rather than surprising her Mom with a hen party as they had originally planned.

Buffy had talked to Joyce about it, thus ruining the surprise, but also safely checking whether she really wanted one considering recent discoveries. She was into the third week and although she did get bouts of sickness, which was pretty natural for the first trimester, she wasn't as bad as she was in the first. However, they didn't want to risk it and tempt fate by doing the party thing. Buffy had made up some flimsy excuse for the others as to why there was to be no partying. Anya had been the hardest to convince of course, but with Arlene also in on it all, she and Dawn had swayed everyone else easily.

"Do we think we need more lights for the night?" Grace asked everyone as she took in all the pretty fairy lights she, Willow and Tara had hung everywhere. They drifted from corner to corner of the ceiling, but also draped casually over the fireplace, entwined themselves round shelves and occasionally glistened on the window ledge or traced along walls. When they were all lit they would look fantastic.

"No, it's perfect," Dawn said enthusiastically and Buffy agreed, "Mom's gonna love it."

"I can't wait till she sees it all," Willow said eagerly, getting caught up in the atmosphere of the entire thing.

At that point Anya and Jacqueline trailed in from the dining room, which had also been decked out in fairy lights.

"Well, we've rearranged everything in there and cleared the table," Jac told them all, "We thought the cake would go directly in the center with everyone else sort of haloed around it a way"

"We went for the most obvious of choices in other words," Anya, explained simply, "Now can we try on the fairy lights?"

"Sure, why not?" Arlene shrugged, "Gotta check they'll all working great anyway"

"Right, some are switched there, then there and others there and there," Buffy pointed out and they each headed to a switch, "One, two, three,"

In unison they all flicked on their light switched and the colored lights glistened around the house beautifully.

For five seconds.

Then it blew the electricity.

"Crap," Buffy said simply and was just thankful both her Mom and Karla (who was presently sleeping in Dawn's room) were too asleep to be awoken by the sudden change in electricity as in the sudden lack of it. Her Mom because she didn't want her worried and Karla simply because she could make a right racket.

"Don't worry- I can fix it," Willow assured her before chanting, "_Lux lucis sursum"_

On her final word all the light glowed back on as though they had never been broken.

"Very cool," Buffy commented.

"My wedding gift," Willow told her, "Not just the fairy lights. I mean I'm gonna make sure nothing goes wrong tomorrow- not one thing."

"Erm…" Arlene sounded and looked very confused. "How did you do that?"

"Did you just chant _Latin_?" Grace asked, just as perplexed.

"Variation of the clap-on," Jac immediately replied and Buffy and Willow immediately sent her a grateful look. For a Watcher she could be pretty okay. Buffy also sent a grateful look heavenward for the fact her relatives fell for that excuse. Looked like denial and repression were a genetic thing and not just specific to her Mom.

"Absolutely nothing," Willow repeated, very aware that something had almost gone horribly wrong just then.

* * *

Joyce was in a deep, deep sleep when she felt the warm morning sunlight sneak through the slither of a gap in her curtains and rest on her cheek. Her eyes fluttered open to see her Mom sat on the end of her bed. Which threw her a bit. 

She hadn't woken to see her Mom in her room since she'd been a teenager.

"Mom…what…" She began to ask and then morning grogginess started to slip away and all memories of what was happening came back. And she felt a mixture of happy and a sickness in her stomach that had nothing to do with the baby. They were called nerves.

"Morning, honey,"

"What time is it?" Joyce asked, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.

"Just gone nine o clock. You've got plenty of time"

Joyce was about to reply when suddenly her bedroom door burst open and Dawn ran in. All though she wasn't the first person. Karla was- and Dawn was apparently chasing her.

"No, we can't go in there just…" Dawn trailed off as she realized they were already in the room and Joyce was up anyway, "...Yet. Hey Mom"

"Hi,"

"Aunty Joyce- are yah excited?" Karla asked eagerly bouncing on the bed, "Coz I'm thinking a wedding is like Christmas only…without Santa"

"Interesting analogy," Joyce commented with a laugh, "But yes- I am. Very excited."

And now she was feeling a sickness that was related to the baby and nothing at all to do with nerves. It wasn't too bad though. Could probably be solved with the pregnancy-friendly tablets she had hidden in the bathroom cabinet. Hand on her stomach and another cautiously hovering near her mouth she excused herself and headed towards the en-suite bathroom.

Grace watched her carefully, scrutinizing every movement. She looked over to Dawn with a smile.

"The way she's acting anyone would think she was pregnant," She laughed, "Nerves did always make her act odd though."

"Yeah! Haha! Pregnancy! Pfft!" Dawn scoffed, throwing her Grandmother urgently off the scent, while also wondering that don't nerves make _everyone_ act odd.

* * *

"Is it just me or is he losing his accent?" Xander asked everyone in reference to Giles. Ever since they had got up in the morning, Giles had been sounding more and more working class in the accent department. However when Xander asked this question, no one replied. He was the only American beside the very silent Peter and none of his own group was there since, he realized he was the only boy in the dynamic. Good in sometimes, bad in others. 

"I need more male friends," He said simply as though the others would understand his pain. Rather than wait for any of them to _not_ reply he headed into his bedroom where he had placed the rings on Anya's bedside. He had only put them down a few minutes ago, but he was terrified of messing up and losing them so he kept checking at five-minute intervals.

* * *

"We need more bathrooms," Dawn commented as she flopped into a seat beside her sister in the kitchen. Buffy just looked up from her notepad of a check list in surprise and Dawn realized how random the statement must have seemed, "No…well Mom's doing the bubble bath scene and such…but I kinda really need to go…" 

Buffy had to laugh.

"Well, tough. You're gonna have to wait, but I'll give you first dibs on bathroom after" Buffy told her and then pushed the notepad towards her to show what had been ticked off, "Now help me with check listing. I'm kinda swamped. I mean I've got Aunt Arlene sorting out guests that arrived, Grandma's on the catering front- me, checklisty and Jac's…well, actually I don't know what job to give her. Right now, she's just helping Arlene…it's just we don't really know her…and she's Giles' family and…a Watcher so it all equals a lot of awkwardness"

"I know…it's weird isn't it?" Dawn said in agreement, "But she's better than most Watchers isn't she? I mean…she's more like Giles than she is her Dad…so could be worse"

"I guess…" Buffy reasoned, "But still…it makes me all edgy"

"So what's Willow's task?" Dawn asked, changing the subject, "And Tara?"

"Well, Willow is fulfilling her wedding gift promise and hovering around making sure nothing goes wrong," Buffy told her, "And Tara is hovering around Willow just in case she needs to fix any awry spells Willow may have the urge to cast in her capacity as erm…fixy-everything-person…"

"We have more guests," Arlene announced as she came in the room with two people, "Well, actually it's just…Carole, is it?" Carole nodded, "It's just Carole and her husband, Todd"

"Tony," Tony corrected.

"Right," Arlene nodded, "Sorry, I'm just all over the place this morning. Everything's all…."

"Hectic," Dawn and Buffy filled in, in synchronization.

"Argh!" From all the way in the kitchen they heard their Mom scream upstairs.

"See?" Buffy said, gesturing in the direction of the room above her, before pushing past Carole along with Arlene to see what was the matter. Buffy hoped it wasn't slayer-related.

"What? What is it?" Arlene asked, as she and Buffy reached the top of the stairs.

"Hot water," Joyce said simply, peering out from behind the bathroom door as she was just wearing a towel. "All gone."

"What?" Buffy asked, "But how can-"

"I don't know. But it equals not being able to wash my hair," Joyce told her, "And I had big plans for my hair to be _clean_"

"I'm all over it," Willow announced, having heard the entire conversation from where she had been stood on the landing. "Stand aside people"

"Arlene, I think s-someone wants you downstairs…" Tara said quietly, not wishing Willow to almost give them away again through her over-eagerness with Magick. She had tried to convince Willow not to do all this, but had failed and had been unable to continue arguing the point when her girlfriend had done that sweet, little, innocent smile when she has nothing but naïve good intentions at heart. So, instead, Tara had opted to go along with and just do damage control.

Once Willow was sure Arlene was gone and out of earshot, she began to chant again.

"_Unda ebullio quod exsisto tepidus iterum_" She smiled at Joyce, "Go check the water now"

The door closed as she did so and the sound of water running from the showerhead could be heard before Joyce returned the door with a smile.

"Very nice," She told the redhead with a smile, panic over now, "Thank you Willow"

"Just doin' my part," Willow told her, putting on a bad Texas accent for some reason that made Tara laugh. "Erm…I mean…erm you're welcome"

Once the bathroom door was closed again Willow turned to the rest with a smug smile on a face, the smile of a woman who knows she was right all along.

"See, everything's gonna go great," She told them and Buffy gave her an even stare.

"You realize if anything does go wrong now it's your fault for saying that?"

* * *

"Door again!" Buffy called down, when she heard the knock later on. She would have gone down to answer the door herself, but was as halfway through getting dressed as her Mom and Dawn were so wasn't really appropriately dressed for opening the door to guests. Everyone else was pretty much ready except for them three, but Buffy figured that was the way things were meant to go. 

"Don't worry, I got it!" Tara called up kindly, before heading to the front door and pulling it open.

On the doorstep was stood a woman about her own age, with dark, highlighted hair that had been cut into a stylish bob. Beside her were two guys, one of which was in a wheelchair, though by the fact he had some form of a cane across his lap, Tara guessed he could walk for short periods of time- she wondered what had happened for him to be injured so badly, and made a mental bet with herself that these people were in the same line of work as Buffy.

"Hi," The woman smiled winningly at Tara, "We're here for the wedding thingy. I'm Cordelia and this is Wesley and Gunn…well, Charles really, but he's really more of a Gunn than a Charles."

"Mm-hmm," Tara smiled in acknowledgement, "Come in," She stepped aside so Cordelia could walk in and Gunn could wheel Wesley up over the front step. "I'm Tara," She told them as she closed the door and Willow came walking in from the dining room.

"Hey baby, who's here?" She asked, fully dressed in her mint green dress for the wedding, taking Tara's hand.

"'Hey baby'?" Cordy questioned, raising an eyebrow at the handholding and Willow first caught sight of her.

"Oh hi- Cordelia! It's been so long!"

"Yeah, it has…" Cordelia agreed, smiling wistfully, but still sounding less enthused by their meeting than Willow was. Nevertheless the two hugged and it was during this that she caught sight of Wesley.

"Oh my god! Wesley!" Willow exclaimed, pulling apart from Cordelia, "Why-you're-I mean that- _what happened_?"

"It's a long story," Cordy told her.

"Got shot," Wesley explained simply and Cordelia rolled her eyes.

"Or incredibly short if you tell it like that"

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Willow asked and Wesley nodded.

"I should be perfectly fine soon. It's just…a little hard to walk at the moment"

"Yeah, stitches break, blood seeps through- it's not pretty," Gunn told her and as though only just realizing he was stood there, Willow frowned at him.

"My, Angel you've changed," She joked.

"Angel can't make it till later- daylight issues," Gunn told and both Willow and Tara sensed he was tense talking about the vampire, just as the other two tensed slightly as well. Willow silently decided not to ask why, "He'll be here for the party later though, but I'm-" Gunn trailed off as he caught sight of a woman coming down the stairs. No more than twenty, her long blonde hair was waved and fell prettily over her deep aqua-blue, knee-length bustier dress and the entire ensemble gave the look of a glamorous girl of the 1950s.

"You're…?" Willow prompted, as he hadn't finished his sentence and she looked in the direction his gaze was fixed to see Buffy coming down the stairs in her bridesmaid dress.

"Hey," Buffy greeted them all, "Cordelia."

"Buffy." Cordelia replied in the same tone and the two smiled at each other, but didn't go for the same hug-and-greet as her and Willow.

"And Wesley," Buffy smiled, "You look different. You've got a wheelchair and everything. Demon?"

"Gun," Wesley corrected her.

"Ah." Buffy nodded in understanding- in her opinion guns were never useful and she didn't doubt that it had been someone outside the supernatural world who had been holding the weapon at the time Wes was shot, "You do realize Xander's going to use you as a rolling target of jokes right now?" She asked him, "Most of them revolving around X-Men"

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Wesley replied, with a smile. As much as he had many bad experiences here, he couldn't help feeling that both he and Cordelia were just that little bit happy to be back in Sunnydale.

"And you are…?" Buffy prompted, looking at Gunn.

"Charles Gunn. But just Gunn really." He told her with a smile that automatically made her smile back.

"Yeah, you don't have a Charles face," She grinned, "maybe a Charlie…. but no" She joked before looking at her watch, "Right- an hour before the wedding. We have to get Mom there, all of us, and then Dawn and I have to do the whole meet-and-greet with the guests. Dawn's nearly-" Dawn came down the stairs, in a dress that matched Buffy's, except her dress had straps- her Mom absolutely refusing to let her have strapless, "well, _is_, ready. So now we just have to wait for Mom." She looked at her watch again as though she expected the time to have changed in the past twenty seconds, "Actually, I better go check on her"

"Well, maybe some of us here should set off now," Grace, suggested as she came into the room with her husband.

"Yeah, us two could get goin'," Carole said, referring to herself and her husband, "And anyone who needs a ride can join us in our car."

"Ooh, could we?" Willow asked, pointing to herself and Tara, "We're kinda car-free"

"Sure," Carole nodded.

"You mean we just wheeled him in here to leave straight away?" Cordelia asked, referring to Wesley, as though the whole thing had greatly inconvenienced her. "We _could_ have just gone straight to the ceremony. Oh no, wait we couldn't," She said, looking pointedly at Buffy and Willow with a glare, "Because no one told us where it was. It didn't even say on the invite. It just said here."

"It's City Hall Cordelia." Buffy explained patiently, "In the hall"

"The grand hall you mean," Wes corrected her and Buffy shrugged.

"Well yeah, but I thought it sounded like way over the top so I left the 'grand' part out,"

* * *

Michael and Grace, Arlene, Peter and Karla, Carole and Tony, Edward, Jac, Harvey and Ted and Brian were already seated when Buffy, Dawn and Giles were still greeting guests and Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn finally drove up, having, despite following the cars in front, gotten lost. 

Buffy and Dawn had arrived with their Mother ten minutes ago and right now Joyce was in the back room with Tara and Willow helping her with her hair, which had gone a little haywire out of it's clips.

Before the L.A three could reach the building though, some of Joyce's friends made it there first. There were six of them all arriving pretty much in unison, but in separate cars. There were two couples and then two single guys. One of the guys definitely caught Buffy's attention and she rushed to see to him first, wearing her most dazzling smile.

"Hi, I'm Buffy," She introduced herself immediately.

"Cal," He smiled back, "Cal Johnson." She frowned, not recognizing the name, "I'm from your Mom's work." He explained, "I do the tour guiding thing for the school kids?"

"Oh!" Buffy said, nodding with an acknowledging smile, "Good job. I mean, I don't mean that in a patronizing way. I just mean, nice good job working with kids and showing them round and…." Buffy trailed off as she realized she was babbling, "would you like me to show you where to sit? It's a little confusing."

He nodded and followed her as Dawn and Giles were left greeting the rest. Most of them Giles knew and had met on previous occasions. The first couple to reach them were Francesca and Léo- both of which were Italian, but had lived in America since their early twenties and were now in their fifties. Joyce knew them through her Mother as they'd lived next door to her for years. They had been close neighbors and Joyce had always liked them, particularly Francesca's flamboyant personality and Léo's sense of humor (and great cooking), but they had visited the gallery often also and so Joyce had felt she couldn't _not_ invite them.

After that were Karen and Mark, followed closely by Brian. Both Karen and Brian worked at the gallery, while Mark was a computer technician and also Karen's husband. Giles fully liked Karen and Mark, but, although he had no obvious reason to, Giles disliked Brian. He didn't directly work in the gallery like Karen did. He worked in a publishing house, but his employer had him keeping a business contact with Joyce's gallery for certain art publications, so Brian had been at the gallery quite a lot lately. He was a perfectly nice guy and got on with Joyce great and was always friendly with Giles…. but Giles just didn't like him.

Then came along Cordelia and Gunn with Wesley wheeling along. Buffy had told him about this, but it was still a shock to see the ex-Watcher wheelchair bound. Also, Giles took a moment to enjoy the irony of how Wes was the one now no longer employed by the Watchers' Council.

"Giles, check you all tuxed out," Cordelia nodded, taking in Giles' outfit with Pure Cordy Approval, "Looks good"

She, of course, was wearing nothing but the best for this event, as though trying to reassert her top status in Sunnydale. A lilac halter neck, with a paneled knee-length skirt so it flowed when she moved, was complimented by petite lilac and pink high-heeled shoes.

"Thank you," Giles smiled, surprised at how very happy he was to see Cordelia, never having realized how much he did miss her day-to-day and her attitude she would bring to the most recent of supernatural situations.

"Can't believe you're like getting married," She told him and the way she spoke seemed to show how much she _had_ matured since High School, her attitude more similar to Buffy now, although as she carried on talking Giles realized she would never ever stop being Cordelia with a capitalized everything, "I mean to think it was only like nearly three years ago when the two of you just turned into the most embarrassing pair of teenagers that thought they were real badasses when really…well, really it was just kinda sad what with how you thought robbing that store and everything was cool and then hello? Grossness on the car hood. But you know it's kinda sweet how it's come this far and so you won't die like a lonely single librarian watcher guy like we all know you were afraid of,"

"Thank you Cordelia," He said in a patient tone.

"It's nice to know that you haven't stopped cramming complex issues into a nutshell Cordy," Buffy added and Cordelia smiled, obviously taking the comment as a compliment.

"Yeah, but I didn't even get to get onto how once they're all married and everything Giles will be like your Stepdad,"

Buffy just looked at her silently for a moment.

"Go find a seat Cordy"

* * *

Clara, the woman who was going to be performing the ceremony, had just finished checking Xander had the rings and the reading, and had already checked some final details with Giles when he saw Joyce walk into the room, just in time for the wedding ceremony to begin. 

She wasn't walking down an aisle, wasn't walking to any music- as she herself had said she felt the entire thing all too cliché now and really didn't want it- but Giles was stunned into complete utter silence at the sight of her anyway.

It was the first time he had ever seen her dress, though he remembered her talking about how Dawn and Buffy, particularly Dawn, had convinced her to go at least slightly traditional wedding dress wise rather than the casual-formal she had originally gone for. But what she had on now suited her down to the last pearl bead.

With the look of a bustier, save for the two incredibly thin straps, the pale, pale blue dress hugged her shape until it reached the hips, where it then flowed out to a neat floor-length hemline, the paneling in the design making the simply designed bottom of the dress move graciously. There was intricately woven beading placed at seemingly random points on the dress, in pearly white and blue beads, which were sewn in small delicate flower designs. At the bustier part of the dress, the beading was more intense and covered the entire part and the light reflected off the white and blue colors.

Attached to the top was a pale blue, translucent, delicate bolero jacket with full-length sleeves that had the same small amount of white beading on it as the dress. The collar of the bolero was bordered by a simple floral design that gave the part of the jacket that fell on her collarbone a waved-edge design.

The curls of her hair had been tamed to perfection so the parts that weren't clipped back with a pearl clip, fell gracefully onto her shoulders and two rebellious curls softly framed her face rather than staying in the clip at the back with the rest.

In short, Giles thought she looked stunning. And he couldn't help but tell her when she reached him.

"Thank you," She smiled at him, blushing slightly, perhaps self-conscious of the fact she was in a wedding dress, "You shape up pretty nicely yourself," She smiled again and he returned it.

"Right, shall we begin?" Clara asked as Joyce passed her simple yet elegant bouquet to Buffy who stood behind her along with Dawn.

"I can't believe how far everything's come," Willow whispered to Tara and her girlfriend nodded and smiled in agreement. Willow's smile faded however when she caught sight of Joyce's parents arguing quietly with each other. It was most likely about Joyce or the wedding in general and it had the potential to escalate…but not on Willow's watch.

"_Diluo is argumiente , permissum is licentia is cella ut vos s-satus iterum"_ She whispered, faltering over the word for 'start' as her tongue struggled to get a grasp of the foreign words.

The argument between Grace and Michael faded. For a moment.

And then every couple in the room save for herself and Tara, and Joyce and Giles began to argue. _Really_ loudly.

"Willow," Tara turned to her lover with wide-eyes, "What did you _do_?" She asked as she worriedly looked around at all the couples that were now arguing, Xander and Anya included.

"I only meant to calm that couple down," Willow defended herself, pointing out Grace and Michael who were now practically at each other's throats.

"What…is…going…on?" Joyce asked in disbelief, looking around at all the guests that were now verbally attacking one another. Even the ones who were single were now taking part in the arguments of couples they knew.

"I-I don't know," Giles replied looking around to see Wesley, Cordelia and Gunn looked as puzzled as them by the entire thing. He also saw Buffy, Tara and Willow talking urgently to one another with Willow very clearly wearing a guilty expression, "But I could wager a guess," Apparently a normal wedding didn't exist in Sunnydale.

Joyce looked around at all the previously happy couples that were now fighting. A moment ago they had all been happily stood with one another, smiling, enjoying each other's company and soaking up the feel-good atmosphere that is attached to most weddings. Now, they argued angrily with each other, some hitting, calling each other names, and insulting the way they live their lives. All that happiness destroyed in a second. She looked over at her sister and brother-in-law who were looking at each other with pure hate as they argued. In one split second it had all changed.

It had seemed like a split-second when things had changed with Hank, but she knew deep down it had been gradual. Even deeper down she had a feeling it has started from the moment they got married. It was like so much commitment just gave them time to see each other's flaws and for all the reasons they should be together, they suddenly saw the reasons they shouldn't. Joyce looked at Giles who was looking presently very confused by the entire situation. His expression of befuddlement made him look so cute that it instantly brought a smile to Joyce's face. She didn't want to lose that and looking around she got a feeling that maybe that's what getting married would do to them. That they'd end up like the angry couples around them.

Subconsciously, she put her hand to her stomach as thought of the recent addition to the entire relationship equation. Would her child benefit more from parents who were married and slowly learnt to hate one another…or parents who were together, happy, yet unmarried?

"Please just stop!" Buffy cried out in the middle of the room, "Just quiet for a minute!!"

The room fell silent as they all turned to Buffy.

"Can you people just compose yourselves for a minute?" Buffy asked formally and they all seemed to think about it before shaking their heads.

"No- not with him constantly…"

"And her…"

"I can't stand the sight of you. Haven't for years!"

"I regret ever saying I do!"

"You never ever have time for me Xander!"

"If I paid any more attention to _you_ Anya I'd be brain dead!"

The arguments escalated again and Buffy sighed in defeat. The lines of every argument stood out to Joyce and she realized she never wanted to be like that. She didn't want what happened between her and Hank to happen between her and Giles. Suddenly, as one fight became violent a person smashed into a chair and that was the final straw.

"Okay, that's it," Joyce said, loud enough for all those not fighting to hear clearly, "I've had enough," Giles turned to her in confused surprise and Buffy, Dawn, Willow, Tara and the three who were visiting from L.A along with the very few others who weren't arguing looked over at her startled and a few of the couples stopped fighting to look as well as her voice rose slightly, "The wedding is off" and with that she walked out of the room. Giles and the other four immediately ran after her into the outside corridor.

"Did she just say what I think she just said?" Cordy asked, looking to Gunn and Wesley for confirmation.

"I think so…" Wesley told her, looking in the direction of the departed bride and crew, and sounding very thoughtful.

"Think it has something to do with _this_?" Gunn asked gesturing to the room of arguing couples, "What the hell happened here?"

"Willow," Cordelia and Wesley said in synchronization.

"What?" Gunn asked, confused.

"The red head?" Cordelia prompted, "Welcome to Sunnydale where Little Miss Wicca thinks she can do everything…and then messes up"

"So I'm thinking we help them…" Gunn proposed, "I mean it's what we do…I mean sure it's not vamps but-"

"No," Cordelia said simply and Wesley silently agreed. "Her mess. Her clean-up" She patted him comfortingly and a little patronizingly on the shoulder, as though feeling sorry for him that he didn't know the ins and outs of Sunnydale "Trust me. It's for the best,"

* * *

"Joyce," Giles called as he ran after her and she stopped to turn around and look at him, "W-what, how-" 

"It's just the last straw," She sighed.

"I didn't know there was a first straw," he told her honestly.

"It happened a long time ago, before I met you," she said sadly.

"Mom you can't just leave," Buffy told her, her choice of words and tone of voice implying the other, hidden reasons for her not being able to leave but Joyce looked doubtful.

"Can't I? You saw what's going on in there. Even Xander and Anya can't stand the sight of one another anymore"

"But it was just a backfired spell!" Willow assured her, "I can fix that" Buffy and Tara threw her a look, "Or Tara…can…"

"No it's not the spell Willow," Joyce smiled at her wistfully, "It's just everything it represents…it reminds me of. I don't wanna end up like that…like I did with Hank," She looked to Giles, "I don't want _us_ to end up like that"

"Joyce, I'm not Hank"

"I know," She agreed putting a hand on his, "But it's still marriage. I'm sorry Rupert…but…but I just can't" She pulled her hand away from his and walked off down the corridor and out of their sight, leaving the group stood there in stunned silence.

"Why'd Mom run away?" Dawn asked in confusion "D-Doesn't she like Giles anymore?"

"Course she does honey," Buffy assured her, "It's just…grown-up stuff"

"We have to fix this," Tara stated, looking very concerned for Giles' welfare, as he seemed to be stood there in stunned silence.

"And we will," Willow said with more confidence than she felt, "Just as soon as we fix that," She pointed in the direction of the room they had just left.

"Giles are you okay?" Buffy asked in concern and he just looked at her silently, "It's going to be okay you know?"

"Y-yes, quite right," Giles said, failing to cover up his insecurities.

"It will be, we'll sort everything out," Buffy assured him.

"Yes, you can fix the spell, but what if this did point something out to Joyce?" He asked, "What if she actually doesn't want to go through with it?"

"Don't be _ridiculous_ Giles," Buffy told him, not believing he would suggest such a thing, "This- what's happened- is just a regular Sunnydale hitch. We'll sort it, but I know my Mom really does want to go through with this. She loves you. I see it every time she lays eyes on you. She becomes the walking romance cliché with her eyes lighting up and her smile becoming just that little bit wider." She looked closely at Giles as though to make sure he was getting her point, "No one has ever made her as happy as you do. Not even Dad"

"Really?" Giles asked with a slight smile, knowing this was potentially Buffy's ultimate approval of his relationship with her Mother.

"Really," Buffy confirmed.

"You and Joyce are like the model relationship in our group," Willow told him with a smile.

"Model relationship?" Giles questioned.

"Yeah," Willow nodded, "You're like the one constant, we know if we're even as half as happy as you two always seem to be…then we're doing something right." Willow gave a sly sidewards smile to Tara as she said this and Tara smiled in return, "Which is why we _will_ fix this,"

"Starting with the spell," Tara added just as Anya and Xander came storming out of the room mid-argument.

"Xander Harris I-" Suddenly both of them glowed slightly and they stopped arguing.

"Huh…anger…has faded…." Xander commented with a puzzled expression.

"Huh," Willow viewed the entire scenario with interest, "Guess we know how to break the spell"

"Get them out of the room it was cast in?" Buffy suggested and Willow and Tara both nodded as Xander and Anya ran over.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Well you see..." Willow began shamefully, "I cast a little spell…"

"No, not that," Xander told her, "Plenty of time for spell apologies later, but did I hear right? Joyce called off the wedding?"

"Yes…but we're on it," Willow told him.

"You're on it?" Xander raised one eyebrow in question.

"Right, Willow, Tara? You work on breaking the spell- get everyone out of the room if you have to," Buffy chose not to answer Xander's unvoiced question and began issuing orders instead, "Giles? You work on keeping the room as long as possible- the wedding _will_ go ahead"

"Right you are,"

"I'm gonna find Mom and talk to her. Xander, will you keep an eye on Dawn?" For once, due to the situation, Dawn didn't make an argument about being babysat.

"No, I'm coming with you," Xander argued, "Anya can look after Dawn"

"What?" Both Anya and Dawn exclaimed.

"_You?_" Buffy "You wanna come along to have a heart-to-heart with my Mother?"

Xander shrugged with slight embarrassment.

"Not to brag, but I'm good at that sort of thing,"

"Fine…" Buffy agreed slowly, "You and me are Mom bound. The rest of you know what you have to do"

They all nodded and headed in the direction of their respective tasks.

* * *

They found Joyce on just outside the foyer, at the front of the building, on the cushioned bench. She looked incredibly out of place sat there in her wedding dress. Buffy was extremely thankful she hadn't gone far- she didn't believe they had to time to run around the city looking for an AWOL bride. 

"Mom?" She called and Joyce looked up as Buffy and Xander headed over to her. Buffy could see her face was slightly tear-stained as though she had tried very hard not to cry but hadn't completely accomplished the task.

"Hi you two," She smiled weakly as they reached her, "I'm sorry about…about…. about well, how everything's gone"

"Nothing to be sorry for," Xander told her, "Things like this happen. It's natural. The important thing is not to let them win. I mean look how far you and Giles have come, you can't stop now"

"I don't think we're going to make it all the way though," Joyce said sadly.

"Why not?" Buffy questioned, "What's stopping you? Everything's all ready and waiting…"

"Everything is what's stopping me. Myself included," Joyce admitted, "I only have to think back on how badly my marriage to your Father went to get even a glimpse of where Rupert and I might end up"

"Not a chance," Xander told her, "You two are made for one another. Course it took you three years and a box of chocolate to realize it but now…you wouldn't go back on it would you?" She shook her head, "You are _the_ couple. Anya's always going on about how the two of you are, comparing me to Giles. Do you realize what that does to my ego?" Joyce let out a little laugh, which had been Xander's intention, "The point is, you're one another's other half. It isn't possible for you two not to be together and be happy. And not even a scary step like marriage would change that" Joyce looked at Xander; taking in everything he was saying. She bit her lip as though contemplating what to say or do in response and both Xander and Buffy sat there, looking at her, hopeful.

"I think…. I think I just need to think some things over…" She told the two of them looking at them both apologetically, "…Alone." She got up and walked away leaving Xander and Buffy behind.

"I thought you said you were good at that sort of thing," Buffy said accusingly with a touch of melancholy in her voice as though she felt the matter was lost and Xander carried on watching Joyce walk away into another area of the building as he answered Buffy.

"I am."

* * *

In the 'grand hall', Willow and Tara had successfully broken the spell and everyone was back to their calm amiable selves although that had had to lead everyone out of the room before leading them back in to do so. They were now all waiting for the wedding to begin, which they couldn't really do without Joyce…who still hadn't come back. 

Buffy and Xander kept looking uncomfortably at one another, wondering if their words with her had changed Joyce's mind at all. And with the recent discovery that her Mom was pregnant, Buffy certainly hoped she would change her mind as she headed over to stand next to Dawn, the two of them looking even more like sisters in their matching bridesmaid dresses. Giles walked over to them.

"She's not coming is she?" He asked sadly and Buffy didn't know what to say in answer, because she really didn't know. She couldn't understand how her Mother couldn't come; yet time was getting on and she still hadn't arrived.

"Maybe we should have said more…" Xander said about him and Buffy to Willow, "Or maybe we should have brought her here to think rather than letting her wander her off and being all milk carton on her wedding day"

"I thought you had full confidence in what you said to her?" Willow challenged.

"I did," Xander agreed, "Until she was _this_ late. Then I get worried."

Clara who was officiating the wedding, walked over to Giles with a look of patient concern on her face.

"We really need to begin now if we're going to at all," She told him, "I'm sorry, but we have other couples waiting."

Giles was just about to tell Clara that it seemed as no wedding was going to happen when the door to the room opened and Joyce walked inside, closing the door behind her as she headed forward towards Giles.

"So are we ready?" She asked casually as though nothing had happened at all. Giles looked down at her.

"Uh, we are…ah, are you?" He asked carefully and she nodded with a smile.

"Come on," She turned to Clara with a grin, "What are we waiting for?" She was acutely aware of the silence that had fallen on all the guests who had assumed Joyce had ran out and wasn't coming back. She turned to look at them all, "Don't act so surprised" She told them all, as though daring them to admit they didn't think she would come back.

"Right, well," Clara smiled, "Places everyone."

As the wedding ceremony started, Buffy paid less attention to the words and more to the way her Mom and Giles stood and looked, facing each other, with huge grins on their faces that they couldn't seem to keep at bay, both of them clearly in love with each other. It was hard to believe that there was ever any doubt that the wedding would happen.

Buffy briefly thought back to the first time she had caught them kissing nearly three years ago and how crazy the circumstances had been and shocked she had been to witness it. Her 17-year-old self could have had no clue what it would lead to or how right she herself would come to view the whole thing.

"And now, before we begin the vows," Clara said after finishing the introductory lines, "I believe we have the wedding reading from Daniel-"

"Xander," Giles corrected and hoped he wouldn't regret the decision as Xander got up to say the reading he had chose personally.

"Okay," Clara nodded, "We have the wedding reading from, uh, Xander"

As Xander was stood up he unfolded a slip of paper he had taken out of his pocket. Clearing his throat, he was clearly nervous but as he glanced over the extract he had chosen, he realized it seemed to apply more now than it did originally.

"Ultimately there comes a moment when a decision must be made. Ultimately two people who love each other must ask themselves how much they hope for as their love grows and deepens, and how much risk they are willing to take…It is indeed a fearful gamble…" As Xander said these words Joyce glanced away from him for a moment to look at Giles and found he was doing the same and she smiled. It _was_ a fearful gamble, especially for one who'd been there before, but sometimes risks were worth taking and this was one she intended to be a success that she would enjoy to the full, "Because it is the nature of love to create, a marriage itself is something which has to be created, so that, together we become a new creature. To marry is the biggest risk in human relations that a person can take…If we commit ourselves to one person for life this is not, as many people think, a rejection of freedom; rather it demands the courage to move into all the risks of freedom, and the risk of love which is permanent; into that love which is not possession, but participation…It takes a lifetime to learn another person…When love is not possession, but participation, then it is part of that co-creation which is our human calling."

With that, his piece done, Xander sat down, aware of the tone it had set for the entire wedding, but from the smiles both Giles and Joyce were giving him, he knew it was the right one. Anya held his hand supportively and lovingly as, with the rest of the guests, they watched and listened as the couple read their vows.

"Joyce, I knew from the first moment I saw you that I loved you and I would grow to love you with each passing moment. And although it took several bars of chocolate to make those feelings known," There were a few quiet titters from the inner circle while the rest of the party looked comically confused. Joyce laughed quietly, her eyes lighting up briefly at the memory, "as your husband I promise to make them known every day. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. From this day forward I give you all that I am- my hand, my heart and my love."

"_I don't do teary eyed, I don't do teary eyed at weddings,_" Willow repeatedly whispered to Tara and Tara smirked.

"It was sweet what he said wasn't it?" Tara said and Willow nodded. She was pretty sure it was the most emotion Giles had ever expressed in a brief moment. Possibly ever now she thought further on it. For those few minutes Willow thought she actually saw the hard, British stiff-upper-lip outer shell fade away. Temporarily at least.

Now Clara asked for Joyce to say her vows.

"Rupert, we've been through so much, faced a lot of struggles, sometimes apart but we always seemed to come together in the end- sometimes with outside help," She briefly glanced over at Dawn, Buffy and the rest of the slayerettes, "After everything we've been through, I sometimes find it hard to believe we made it this far and yet here we are surrounded by the very people who made it possible and it makes me feel happy…and complete. I take you to be my friend, my lover and my husband, loving what I know of you and trusting what I don't. I look forward to growing old together, getting to know more of the wonderful man you are and who you will become and falling in love a little more each day. I promise to love you and stay beside you through whatever life may bring us"

"Right, right," Clara said, clearly as moved by the vows as everyone else, "Now for the exchange of the rings.

"Oh I have them!" Xander exclaimed, heading over and Giles rolled his eyes. In all the scenarios he had envisioned of this day, Xander having such a vital role in the ceremony had not been a part in any of them. Xander finally found the rings safe and sound and handed them over.

"This ring I give to you as a token of my love and devotion to you," Giles said as he picked up a ring in one hand and held Joyce's in the other, "I pledge to you all that I am and all that I ever will be as your husband" He slipped the ring gently onto her wedding finger, "With this ring I gladly marry you and join my life to yours"

After Joyce repeated this, placing the ring on Giles' finger, Clara began the declaration of marriage.

"By the power vested in me by the State of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife"

Giles and Joyce smiled widely at each other, Clara's simple statement telling them it was complete and that they had made it all the way- they were officially married. Clara leaned toward them slightly.

"_This is the part where you kiss_," she reminded them in a whisper as they had been stood smiling at each other for a good half a minute.

Buffy and Dawn watched with matching grins as their Mom and Giles wrapped their arms around one another and shared a romantic kiss.


	21. Forever

Abryxis- Yah, we are death-free, it's all good. Hehe. And yay- the Snoopy dance! And well, you'll see what the reception is like in this chapter and the next…. Hehe. Thanks very much for review.

g120- Mwa haha! I fooled you on the whole 'the wedding is off front' which was my intention all along of course. Teehee. And yes, it did reflect Xander's wedding fears but you'll just have to wait till Hell Bells to see how that turns out….thank you for the review.

Zigpal- Haha- I fooled you too with the whole cancelled wedding thing. I thought it'd be dramatic. Haha, but yes everything turned out all right in the end thanks to Xander as always, our little White Knight. And yes, there is many a possibility for Buffy couplyness at the wedding (couldn't have her alone at a wedding could we?), but one more addition is added in this chapter…thank you for review and of course the claps. Hehe.

DevJannz2- Thanks for reviewyness; glad you're liking it so far.

Rabidreject- thanks for review- I'm loving your 'as usual' comment. Hehe. **.::winks::.**

* * *

February 2001

The fairy lights worked great as night fell in Sunnydale. They gave the entire house the rosy glow that is usually only reserved for the holiday season and with all the main lights off everyone seemed to bask in the atmosphere it created, whether they were eating, dancing, talking, sitting or all of the above if possible.

After talking to her Mother for a while, Joyce caught sight of Wesley sat in his wheelchair on his own across the room. She hadn't spoken to him much at all, all day and so she excused herself from Grace to head over to him.

"Hi Wesley," She greeted him and he smiled back.

"Hello Mrs Su-" Wesley stopped midway with a slight smile, "Mrs Giles,"

"You know to call me Joyce," She told him with an amused frown and he nodded.

"I know…but, well, perhaps I considered it appropriate," He told her, "You look lovely by the way"

"Thank you," She took a seat on the chair beside him, "So erm…" She tapped the wheelchair, "How did this happen?"

"Everyone keeps asking that," Wesley said, rolling his eyes.

"It happens when you suddenly develop wheels," She told him with a slight laugh and he sighed as he began to explain the story.

* * *

February 2004

"You do realize I've only got two of these outfits?" Xander complained as he examined the rip in his black sweater that completed his suave army-esque outfit. He walked into the small room at what he had dubbed the Slayer Academy where Joyce and Giles were presently having a spare moment and were sat quietly together.

"Vampire attack?" Giles asked, concerned.

"No, Slayers." Xander said with a sigh, "These newbies are way enthusiastic Giles, it's ridiculous"

"Welcome to the world of Watchers and their grievances," Giles told him smoothly, before pausing in thought, "I never thought the day would come when you, Xander, would be in the category of 'Watchers'"

"It's what happens when you've only got like four of us…" Xander replied, refusing to be offended by the comment.

"Yes," Giles agreed, "Once it used to be one Slayer and hundreds of Watchers…. recently the scales have tipped somewhat"

"I know…. it's keeping everyone so busy." Joyce agreed, "We hardly have any time to ourselves,"

She put her hand on Giles' knee while looking pointedly at Xander, trying to convey to him that he had interrupted their recently-rare, alone time.

He didn't get the hint.

"Tell me about it, I mean I sometimes just want me, Will and Buffy time- you know catch up like in ye olde simple days of Sunnydale High…but do we get that? Noooo…."

"Xander?" Giles interrupted him.

"Yeah?"

"Leave the room," He told Xander simply and Xander frowned, before finally getting what he was meaning.

"Oooooh. Right, gotcha," He winked before leaving the room, causing the couple to roll their eyes. As he left the room though, his cheerful demeanor faded away as he murmured to himself, "Jeez, some things never change around here"

Once he was definitely gone and the door to the room was closed, Joyce and Giles smiled at one another.

"Now where were we?" Giles asked Joyce casually and she kissed him on the lips warmly. "Ah, I remember," He told her, when she broke the kiss for a moment before their lips joined again and she slipped onto his knee. Within moments, with their arms wrapped around each other, drawing one another closer, they fell back onto the couch, side-by-side so neither was on top as they kissed.

They began unbuttoning clothing and things were about to get very interesting when a voice interrupted them.

"E-excuse me? Mrs Giles?"

Joyce sighed in frustration and craned her head back to see who was asking for her. It was Nikki, one of the more shy of the recent slayers and no more than sixteen. She was stood with Jo, who although could be quite shy with authority, was rather outspoken in a really gobby way.

"Yes, what is it?" Joyce asked and she saw Jo roll her eyes, "What? It's a simple question"

"Yeah, but could you entangle yourselves_ before_ you ask?" Jo requested, giving them a pointed look.

"No," Giles told her, feeling so fed-up about the amount of times he and Joyce were interrupted.

"What is it Nikki?" Joyce asked.

"It's Dawn- she's complaining about her…erm…situation again. And how no one pays attention to her now that she's so well…"

"_Huge?"_ Jo filled in and Joyce threw her a look.

"She kinda wants you to see her," Nikki added.

"Okay," Joyce managed a nod, which was an amazing feat considering the way she was lay, "I'll erm…I'll be there in a minute"

Both Slayers nodded in acceptance before leaving the room.

"I don't get what their big deal is anyway," Jo said to Nikki as they left, "They've been married for like forever- shouldn't they have got all the sex parts over with? They're like in their forties or something."

Nikki just chose not to reply.

* * *

February 2001

"So you're a student at UC Sunnydale?" Cal asked casually as he sat with Buffy on the couch in the packed and romantically lit living room.

"Yeah, pretty much," Buffy nodded with a smile. It was innocuous talk, neither of them quite ready to discuss an attraction of one another and had settled for neutral, innocent topics. Work, college….

Buffy couldn't deny the fact that she was deeply attracted to Cal, but wasn't sure whether she was ready to act on it. After all, only just last week she had turned down Ben for coffee…. after everything with Riley she just felt that perhaps it was alone-with-Buffy time that she needed. It was such a hard decision- to take that chance or not- that she wanted the decision taken out of her hands. Any moves to be made to be his.

But he seemed as reluctant as she was; perhaps sensing Buffy wasn't quite ready. She didn't know. She wished someone would make the move though- make her forget about Spike, forget about making decisions, forget about being in charge all the time. Someone who could take the lead as much as she could and just suddenly ask to dance. Where she was in her life though, she knew any moves made tonight would probably not go father than that…but for just tonight she could forget that and just go with it- have someone dare to ask her. But was Cal going to be that guy?

"So…they're all married now…" Cal commented lightly, gesturing with a nod of the head to where Joyce and Giles were stood talking to Wesley.

"Yeah, they sure are…." Buffy agreed, wondering where the hell he expected this conversation topic to go.

"I only like started working at her gallery like a year ago…they were engaged then…so it just seems like they've always been together," He said, "But erm…Carole was saying something about them meeting through you or something?"

"What?" Buffy immediately bit out, wondering how Carole knew about the band candy and therefore her slaying.

"He was your High School librarian, right?" Cal prompted and Buffy sighed in relief as she realized he meant nothing to do with Slaying.

"Erm, yeah, yeah, he was, I like knew him before Mom really."

"Must be weird," Cal commented, "When I think back to the staff at High School….it'd_ still_ be weird if like one of my parents married a teacher and _I_ left High School a long time ago. And them two started dating while you were still a high school student right?"

"Yeah, in Senior year," Buffy agreed, "But it's not too weird anymore really…I mean Giles has been like around forever," She joked lightly, before becoming slightly more serious as she considered how long ago it seemed that her Mom and Giles _weren't_ together. Seemed a lifetime away.

* * *

February 1998

Giles was in the library late on again. Well, not as late as usual, but it was the end of the school day and he hadn't left the room for the entire seven hours that all students were forced to stay within the school premises.

He had been doing that a lot lately- hiding himself away in the library. Ever since Angel had lost his soul and he had found out how much Jenny had been involved it had been hard to leave the library. To brave the outside corridors where he might possibly bump into Jenny Calendar. The feelings that seeing her would cause would be so mixed and confused- he loved her so much, yet the betrayal to him and to Buffy was almost too much to bear.

A few days ago had been Valentine's Day. He should have spent it with her, months ago had planned to, but clearly none of that had panned out. Of course, she had tried to come and talk to him and he had been more than ready to listen- all the ready to forgive. But Xander and Amy had cast that blasted spell and soon Jenny had been too smitten with Xander to say anything to him at all.

After that near talk, leaving the library had become even harder so he had took it upon himself not to leave the area until he was sure all members of staff, and therefore assuredly Jenny, had left the building.

"Hello?" A female voice calling through the room drew him out his thoughts and he immediately thought it was Jenny who had come to visit him- taking all matters out of his hands as was her way.

"Jenny?" He asked, turning around to look, but instead saw Buffy's Mother there and he sighed- whether from relief or disappointment he wasn't sure.

"Close," She smiled, "Joyce…." She looked unsure as to whether he would know who she was, "Summers…Buffy's Mother?"

"Y-yes, of course, you're uh, you're ah l-looking for Buffy I s-suppose?" He asked, developing the stutter that he developed when he was nervous, overly enthusiastic or in this particular case around any women he was even faintly attracted to. "W-well, she was here just a moment ago actually. She has, ah, she has just gone with Xander to collect a few books for me"

"Xander," Joyce repeated with a slight nod, before her eyes looked to the ground, not pulling her glance away from the drab floor and Giles saw she was blushing slightly. He frowned in confusion at her reaction for a moment, before remembering how Buffy had said she had also come under Xander's love spell gone completely and utterly wrong. No wonder she was embarrassed by the mention of the boy's name.

Eventually she seemed to get her confidence back as she raised her gaze to look at him once more and he found himself as lost as he had been when he first saw her in the hospital bed last year and as taken aback as when he saw her weeks ago in the basement of the school building as she had stumbled in confusion as much as he when they had awoken amongst dozens of others. All this from mere eye contact.

He loved Jenny he would _always_ love Jenny. Even through the recent weeks, he continued to love her which made everything all the harder. But this woman in front of him was someone he had hardly spoken to at all, yet she fascinated him. He felt as though he had met her before, but knew that was impossible. He briefly wondered what it would be like to hold her, how her back would fit into the palm on his hand as he would reach around her. He immediately shook these thoughts aside, wondering why he was even having them in the first place.

"You said you were meant to meet Buffy here, yes?" He checked and she nodded.

"Yes, I've…well, my car's in the shop at the moment and I've a hire car, so I was going to meet her outside the school so she could see me…she hasn't seen the temp car yet. But erm- she wasn't there and I know she hangs out here a lot."

"Yes, well, I'm sorry about that. It's my fault really- sending her on the errand has clearly taken time"

"No, it's fine, honestly," Joyce, told him with a smile. She'd not seen him in so long and she wondered for a moment why this thought occurred to her, why was she bothered that she had not seen this virtual stranger in so many weeks? She didn't know him too well, she knew he spent a lot of time helping Buffy and for that she was grateful- but she really knew no more about him. "I'll uh I'll just wait for her to come back," She told him, taking a step forward so she could lean on the library counter and was intensely aware that this brought her so much closer to him, a very small distance between them.

She wanted to say more than she what did, inside her was a voice crying out to be spoken, asking her to say four simple words. Ask him out. Casual even. Something. Ask him if he's free tonight. Don't leave now, as soon as Buffy arrives. Leave possibly never to see him again for months.

Why did this even bother her though? Why? It was incomprehensible.

She wanted to ask, but couldn't, but wanted him to know that she wanted to ask but couldn't. They hardly knew each other, Buffy said he was involved, is involved, was, is, was…. they hardly knew each other. She knew it was impossible but hoped inside that he knew at least partially the current conflict inside her.

_I'm wrong to not ask…but I can't ask…let me tell you why I can't ask…tell me why I _should_ ask… _

His hand moved on the counter, sliding along as he too slightly leant against the side, waiting for Buffy to return. As his hand moved it became so close to hers. Just a centimeter apart, that was all, but Joyce focused on the difference; it was all she could presently see.

Friction gave way on the counter top and his hand jerked forward slightly and their fingertips touched, causing both of them to involuntarily jump. But their hands didn't move away as they looked each other, eye contact made again.

"Hey, Giles we got the book thingies." Buffy announced loudly, walking in with Xander and both Joyce and Giles immediately pulled their hands away from the counter in a blur, eye contact broken as they both briefly looked down at the ground before looking over at the teenagers.

* * *

February 2001

A new song began, just the opening chords, and the music familiar to most in the room, many having heard the song before. It was coming from the stereo, one of Buffy's CDs that Dawn slipped on, having had enough of the other music that had been playing so far that night.

Many other couples had already begun to find room to dance on the makeshift dance floor in the living room, when Giles, having finished talking with his sister headed over to Joyce who was in deep conversation with her parents- she was smiling so it was obviously going well- and held his hand out to her, silently asking her to dance.

Her parents didn't say a word of complaint as she was took away from their conversation and over to where the other couples were dancing.

_"So dear to me…always keep me company"_

It wasn't really dancing, Grace didn't believe, as neither of them made any actual dance moves. Her daughter just draped her arms around her husband's neck and he wrapped his around her waist and the swayed slowly, and rhythmically to the music.

_"No need to go outside…I will be your silent bride"_

* * *

February 2004

Andrew closed his cell phone after hearing the distressing phone call from Spike. It had been Angel's number on caller I.D but Spike who had spoken. Angel couldn't come to the phone, he said, it was all too much right now. "Downright bloody heartbroken" were Spike's words. Andrew could understand. He knew Cordelia, remembered her in High School. She hadn't been the nicest to him but…

Andrew was the only person the group in L.A knew how to get hold of. Andrew had been given strict instructions by Giles, that when he had visited L.A he was not to tell Angel where Buffy was or anything of what was going on. The temptation to come find her would be too much and well everything could officially go downhill from there. He'd been told to make up any story he wanted to explain where Buffy wasn't- "_as long as you keep away from any science-fictional references" _Giles had added. So on the way to L.A, Andrew had planned the Rome story, Xander in Africa…okay, so Willow had really gone away with Kennedy but he had learnt from the last call from Xander that apparently she was back now. As there was a new big bad on the scene, Xander wouldn't say whom for some reason.

The Slayers he was looking after were playing strip poker again and Andrew rolled his eyes. He was _so_ bored here. He wanted to be where the action was, working alongside Xander like…well, like Wolverine and Cyclops, hidden tensions over the woman they both loved (Andrew decided to place Anya in the part of Jean Grey) but willing to work alongside each other to fight the good fight.

Dialing the number for the main office at the Slayer HQ, Andrew hoped someone was free enough to pick up. He knew how hectic things could get there.

* * *

Joyce was just about to leave for her class when the phone rang. 

She hadn't really a major part, she sometimes felt, in the grand scheme of everything that was going on right now, but while she had been at College majoring in Art History (minoring in English) she had taken the time to do a one-year teaching course. It meant she sort of knew what she was doing when she took on the task of teaching the basics to some of the younger Slayers. The ones who should be in High School like normal teenage girls.

So she had taken on the role of teacher, taking several classes a week, which, for the most part, the girls turned up for if they didn't have to fight some new beastie, which with Warren and Amy on the scene was becoming a more and more common occurrence.

When the zombies had attacked not too long ago through Amy's spell, it had brought back some not too pleasant memories of when zombies had attacked her own house- the house that had sadly been burnt to a cinder last May with all of Sunnydale. It was then that yet again she realized how useful Giles training her over the years at Buffy's request, was. As when some of the walking dead had made it over the wall past the Slayers she had managed to fend off without injury.

Also, along with Xander, Andrew, Willow (to some extent since she seemed to have her own place as resident Witch) and Dawn (eventually), Joyce seemed to be slowly taking on the role of Watcher also. Although, unlike the others it wasn't consciously done, but rather was an unplanned gradual process.

It was because of this that extra tasks had been taken on and so she had been late for a few of her classes recently. Answering the phone was going to be late again. But she couldn't _not_ answer it. It was more than likely important.

"Hello? Hi, Andrew, how's everything going?"

At this point Giles walked into the room, apparently look for something. She saw an open book on a nearby table and would bet the farm that was what he had come for. She waved a silent hi to him before carrying on talking to Andrew.

"Andrew, please, slow down…or rather well, speak more clearly. It's not very…what?" Her what came out in a whisper as she heard the shocking news Andrew had to say, "No…" Her voice was slightly stronger now, but it seemed close to breaking.

Giles, concerned at the sound of her voice looked over and saw the look of extreme upset on her face. She had her hand over her mouth and was shaking her head as though not accepting what was being said on the phone.

He ran over, taking the phone from her hands as she slid into the chair beside the table.

It was Andrew on the phone. Then Giles heard the news too. Which was when he understood Joyce's reaction.

"Thank you Andrew." He said over the phone, "Bye"

He hung up and crouched down beside Joyce. She was crying openly now, though not loudly and feeling the loss as much as she did he put his arms around her as she cried.

"Hey," Buffy said walking into the room, "Have you guys seen Xander? I need to-" Buffy took note of the scene in front of her. Giles had that pained look on his face that he always had when he wanted to cry but was too British to do so and he was hugging her Mom who was presently crying, "What is it?"

"It's Cordelia." Giles said simply and Buffy already knew what he was going to say. And she felt sick to the stomach.

* * *

February 2001

_"I can't take my eyes off you…nothing ever needs to be said, send your message right into my head"_

Buffy was walking across the room intending to get a drink for herself, but was watching her Mom and Giles rather than where she was going and half way across the room bumped directly into someone.

Gunn.

"Oh hey, sorry, I was just…." Buffy decided not to make an excuse, "Really not paying attention to where I was going."

"I got that" He nodded with a smile. She smiled back.

"So you gonna stay stood in my way or are you gonna actually move aside?" Buffy finally asked not unkindly and Gunn realized she was still trying to get past him but he hadn't actually moved.

"Oh right." He said, moving out of her way, but just as she went to walk past him again he stood back in her path.

"You realize I have to get past you _before_ you can do that?" She checked and the way she said it made him grin. She was quick, witty, feisty and being a Slayer obviously a strong woman- and strong not just because of that as well- all qualities Gunn always admired in women he liked. He liked women that wouldn't back off from his abrupt, and sometimes-violent nature, women that could stand on their own two feet- he liked to defend and protect them, but if they _expected_ them too…he didn't like it. He didn't know whether these thoughts were sexist, unreasonable or what, but it was what he thought and he couldn't help that. And Buffy Summers seemed to be all of the above.

Of course she was inadvertently attached to Angel, wasn't she? He didn't know all of the facts but he knew enough to know that even though they weren't a couple anymore, they were always 'together' on some level.

But the vamp wasn't here right now, and Gunn right there and then made a decision to not care.

"Yeah, I know I'm blocking your way again," He agreed, "That's because I wanna ask you a question and if you leave the room it makes it hard to do that, ya see?"

"I see," Buffy nodded, before crossing her arms across her chest, "So what's the question?"

"Dance?" He said simply, with a grin that Buffy couldn't help but return. This guy just appealed to her. He didn't seem the type who would run away from her or would feel threatened by her strength and abilities. But what was this going to lead to?

"I-" She began, but seeing she was reluctant Gunn interrupted.

"Come on, I mean I know it's a Hellmouth…but can a dance really be that deadly?" He asked and she shrugged in acceptance.

"Guess not…" She agreed and allowed herself to be led onto what was temporarily called a dance floor.

_"Fill me up when I'm alone, so soothing is your monotone. I can't take my eyes off you; I can't take my eyes off you. I can't take my eyes off you…I can't take my eyes off you"_

* * *

August 1996

"So everything's okay for Buffy starting school here Mr. Flutie?" Joyce checked as she sat in the chair in front of the desk in Principal Flutie's office. Said principal was sat opposite her on the other side of the desk. He was a cheery man and seemed very willing to have Buffy join his High School.

Joyce was practically dancing with relief inside. After Buffy's pyromaniac attitude towards Hemery High's gym, she had begun to doubt whether her daughter would be admitted to any decent school. But Sunnydale had found a place for her daughter and she would start school in September. Yes, Sunnydale was full of promise.

"Yes, everything's fine." Mr. Flutie told her and went to say more, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Yes, come in"

Joyce turned to see a man walk in. Fairly tall, dark (ish) hair, green eyes behind a part of glasses and a slightly nervous, yet immediately endearing smile. Joyce had to admit that at first glance she liked what she saw, despite the fact he was wearing tweed. Well, he wore it well…. well, as well as tweed _could_ be worn.

"Principal Flutie, I was uh, I was wondering," The man spoke in an accent and Joyce immediately realized he was English and wondered what he was doing all the way over in California in a little town like Sunnydale. "If, well if my books that were being delivered here had a-a-arrived yet."

While waiting for an answer from Mr Flutie, the man glanced down at Joyce as though only just realizing she was there which he probably had. When he saw she was smiling warmly at him, he gave a little start in nervous surprise, gave her a little smile back that Joyce was surprised gave her a funny feeling in her lower belly, before turning his attention back to Mr Flutie.

"Yes, Mr Giles, they arrived today," Mr Flutie assured him, "They're in the next office"

"Oh, well, uh, t-thank you," Mr Giles went to leave after this but the Principal stopped him.

"Oh, Mrs Summers, this is our new librarian, Mr Giles"

"Hi," Joyce smiled.

"Hello," He greeted her with a smile also, adjusting his glasses before shaking her hand.

The meeting was incredibly brief and neither of them would ever remember it.

* * *

February 2001

_"Do, do, do, do, do…. da, da, da, da…do, do, do, do"_

Gunn was right, Buffy thought, there was no harm in dancing. In fact she was enjoying this dancing a lot and found there was a smile on her face that she couldn't remove.

Over the sound of the music Buffy heard a knock at the door. No one went to get it and she rolled her eyes at Gunn.

"I guess I'm gonna be the one getting that," She told him and she headed to the hall, but found Gunn actually walked along with her- something that she was surprised to find made her happy. The fact that he stayed with her….it was nice. She could get to like Gunn a lot.

She pulled open the front door and her smile faded to one of shock- In everything that happened today she had completely forgotten about the person on the doorstep, so used had she become to having to get through her life without him.

"Angel." She said simply, really not knowing what to do as she felt Gunn stood beside her.

_

* * *

"Maybe I'm not as real as the others, but I choose you over all my past lovers" _

"Rupert," Joyce said softly as they danced, "I have…I have something to tell you"

"What?" He asked, he kept dancing but his voice was filled with concern and she hurried to assure him.

"No, it's nothing bad…at least it doesn't have to be that is,"

_"They have come and they have gone, but I can always turn you on" _

"What is it?" He asked as they still swayed to the music, arms still around one another.

"Before I tell you though you have to promise me one thing,"

_"I can't take my eyes off you," _

"Yes, of course," He assured her, _really_ wondering what it was she needed to tell him.

"No matter what I tell you, or how you feel about it….don't stop dancing or anything that would…well, make people think that something shocking has happened," She looked into his eyes as they danced, silently pleading for him to make that promise.

"Yes, of course," He told her, "I promise. I won't stop dancing. Now, what is it?"

_"I can't take my eyes off you" _

She moved the way she was stood slightly, so her mouth was near his ear so what she said could be heard by him alone and no others as she whispered it to him. She was nervous, she admitted that fact. She had no idea how he was going to react, how he was going to feel about it.

_"I can't take my eyes off you" _

"Rupert," She said to him quietly, "I'm pregnant"

And Rupert Giles stopped dancing.


	22. And Ever

Abryxis- I'm evil? Hehe. I hated the whole Cordy dying thing too (You're Welcome made me cry so much at the end) but afraid the Cocorificverse doesn't effect the Angelverse much, only Buffonia. Sorry! Hehe.

Zigpal- You're comparing me with Lost? Ick! I detest that show. Bleurgh. Anyway, I had reasons for my flashbacks and flashforwards- it fit in with the title of Forever. ;-) hehe. As for the Buffy romance front, while I can't say whether any will be sticking around indefintely, I will say that I think you'll like Buffy's final choice. And I can't believe you're withholding claps on me! Shock!

rabidreject- I'm glad you're all cliffhangered- that's the way I like ya. Haha. And hope you like the updateyness.

* * *

"Buffy," Angel only said that one word but it betrayed a myriad of emotions and Buffy felt exactly the same way. 

She loved the sight of him, she hadn't seen him in so long and yet here he was…now. She wanted him so desperately to take her in his arms, wrap her tightly in his embrace, kiss her passionately, warmly, fiercely, kindly. She wanted all of that.

But she knew she couldn't and that's what made these meetings so hard.

She had forgotten all that a moment ago when…when she'd been dancing with Gunn. As if just remembering he was there she turned to Gunn to see a polite expression on his face when he saw Angel. They were meant to be friends, worked along side one another but Buffy had a feeling there was something go on recently that had messed everything up. She thought it better not to ask.

"Gunn," Angel said simply, "You've met Buffy now then"

"Yeah, yeah I have…" Gunn replied in a tone that betrayed nothing.

"Can I come in?" Angel asked, not answering Gunn but looking directly at Buffy.

"Being polite again, huh?" Buffy smiled, knowing full well that Angel could step into her house without invitation. He shrugged a yes, with a slight smile at his lips as she stepped aside to let him in.

There was silence as the three stood together in the hall. Alone as everyone else was in the other room. It was really silent outside, but inside Buffy's head it was deafening.

"So…" Angel said wanting to break the awkward pause in talking, "Where's the happy couple?" He asked, using a cliché expression on purpose.

Buffy pointed in the direction she had last seen her Mom and Giles. Right now though, they were no longer dancing and her Mom seemed to be trying to explain something to him, her expression a desperate one. She wondered whether her Mom had finally confessed to recent discovery.

"There they are…apparently having their first tiff…." Buffy added with a frown as she saw the couple walk off away from the crowd and in the direction of the kitchen.

"I'll, erm, talk to them later then," Angel decided and was drawn back into the awkward non-conversation that was him, Buffy and Gunn.

* * *

"Right, now we're away from the others," Giles said as he and Joyce walked into the presently empty kitchen, "Now, please repeat what it is you said." 

"You heard what I said," She told him quietly.

"Say it again," He said, but the way he spoke made it seem more like an order and Joyce knew she didn't have any choice but to repeat it. Clearly, he was reacting badly…she should perhaps have expected as much. They had both agreed that neither of them wanted to start a family, with everything that was going on in their lives and Joyce already had Buffy and Dawn…but what was done was done.

"I'm…pregnant," She told him, only meeting his eyes for a moment before glancing back down at the ground, over at the kitchen counter, at the kitchen door, anywhere that wasn't him.

"You're…" Giles half-repeated but didn't get all the words out, "You're…really?"

"Really," She nodded. "I've done the test…everything, but the symptoms were a confirmation anyway really"

Giles briefly thought back to the previous week in the magic store where Joyce had ran to the bathroom feeling sick, which Buffy had claimed to be food poisoning.

How could he have been so clueless? How come she hadn't told him straight away?

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked.

"I'm telling you no-"

"Earlier," He interrupted her, "As soon as you knew?"

"I don't know…I…I wasn't sure for a while," She told him turning away from him as she said this, not wanting to risk making eye contact as she talked, "I wasn't sure whether I was…I wasn't sure how you'd…"

"How I'd what?" He prompted and she sighed, still not looking at him.

"How you would react," She turned to face him, "I mean we both agreed that children weren't on the agenda, that we'd be crazy to think otherwise…and then this happens and I didn't know what you'd say…what you would think"

After this sudden burst of information she looked away again, but he was barely watching her, his mind a very,_ very_ tangled web of thoughts as he went over this recent piece of shocking news. Joyce was pregnant. Pregnant. That meant he was going to be a Dad. Something that he thought would be denied him his whole life. He felt like a Father to both Buffy and Dawn of course, but they never seemed to view him in the same way- they had their Father after all. From his point of view, he didn't think they would ever see him like a Dad to them.

"I understand that this is a really big shock," Joyce was saying, still not looking in his direction, "And I understand that you'd be upset but-"

"Upset?"

That made her turn around.

"Yes," She nodded, "Because of the aforementioned 'we didn't want children' thing?"

"I don't believe I said I didn't _not_ want children," Giles told her and he saw a flicker of surprised hope in her eyes, "Rather that it would be deemed more…. suitable given everything that is our situation, demons and vampires being a key factor"

"You didn't not…" Joyce trailed off, as she looked into his eyes, searching for an honest reaction to this news, "You're okay with this? Like really okay?"

He took her hand, gently pulling her over to him as he smiled down at her.

"Well, actually, I would have to say I'm more than okay," He told her and she smiled back, nerves gone now.

"Really?" She grinned.

"Really," He repeated the word in same smiling tone she had used.

She put her arms around him closing what little distance there had been between them moment ago.

"You're gonna be a Daddy," She smiled.

"I'm gonna be a Daddy," He repeated even using the term 'gonna' instead of 'going to' before kissing Joyce romantically on the lips.

"You're gonna be a _what?_" A loud voice asked and the two broke apart to see who had asked the question and interrupted them.

"Oh…hi Cordelia," Joyce smiled innocently, "Having a nice time?"

* * *

"Gunn's a great guy," Angel agreed as he and Buffy talked alone. They were in the middle of the 'dance floor', had intended to dance together, but had ended up just standing. 

Anything they did together, no matter how innocent, had to potential to become erotic and knowing the dangers of where that could lead…both didn't want to risk it…but wanted to all at the same time. And that was the bad.

"You were dancing with him?" Angel asked, attempting to sound nonchalant.

"Yes, I was." Buffy was honest, "It was nice. Felt normal." She paused before continuing, "For like a minute. And then you knocked on the door and all things normal flew out the window didn't they?"

She could tell he was hurt as he went to move away, and she instantly felt bad.

"Look, I'm sorry," She apologized, "I'm just…I've got a lot of things going on in my life right now and this is just…. I'm just a little confused…a little snappy. It's no big"

"No big?" He questioned and she nodded.

They were incredibly close to one another, almost nose to nose. And even though he didn't need to breathe Buffy swore she could feel his warm breath on her. Feel the warmth his body gave her, though that was impossible too- Angel would never be any warmer than room temperature.

Their lips were touching; brushing one another's, knowing they shouldn't, but neither pulled away and soon they were kissing. It wasn't rushed or fiery…it was warm…romantic. Everything they knew they had been denied…and had to be from now on or badness would ensue.

Reluctantly they pulled apart.

"Maybe…erm…" Angel struggled for what to say as the two of them stood there, still trying to taste what ever remained of the other on their lips, "I'm gonna step outside a bit. It's a nice night"

"Yes, it is," Buffy agreed and watched Angel head to the back door.

She stood there, wondering over what had just happened, and was so busy trying to push away all the passionate feelings that had suddenly come rushing back that she didn't notice Gunn watching silently from across the room.

* * *

"Pregnant huh?" Cordy questioned casually, proving to the couple that she had actually heard what had been said, "That's really…" She went to say nice, but changed her mind mid-way, "…weird." 

"Thank you," Giles said not without a touch of sarcasm.

"Oh, well, weird in a good way," Cordelia hurried to correct him, "I guess…"

"Yeah…it is…" Joyce agreed turning away from Cordelia to smile at Giles. The way he had responded to the news, so positively had caused her to feel as though a huge weight had been lifted off her- it felt like it had been preying on her for months instead of three weeks.

Knowing Cordelia was still stood there in the kitchen with them, but unable to hold back, she kissed him again. A light brushing of lips at first which soon became something a lot more….'interesting' as they gradually wrapped their arms around one another.

"I know you're like married and all now so I guess it's like a little bit less creepy…but seriously?" Cordy interrupted them, "Could you not?"

They didn't hear her and she really needed to get past them (her cell was on the counter behind them) so she tapped Joyce on the shoulder lightly and as though prompted by the contact was shocked into a not so light vision.

_Giles. Joyce. Both older than they were now. Early 60s perhaps? _

_A girl, seventeen, talking to them, asking them something apparently. _

_Both of them wearing disapproving face…saying no…. girl pouting. _

_The name Lily echoed. _

She came out of the vision as disorientated and non-pleasant as usual.

"Cordelia?" Giles asked and she felt his hands on her shoulders, "Cordelia? Are you alright?"

"Yeah…I'm just fine…" She really didn't feel like explaining her visions to Watcher man and even more so didn't want to explain the fact that her vision had just shown her what she guessed was his and Joyce's daughter, "just a little vertigo." He frowned, seemingly unconvinced, "What? We all get a little vertigo sometimes"

"Hmm…" Joyce sounded just as unconvinced as Giles looked, "Perhaps you should sit down."

"No, I'm fine honestly…aren't I Angel?" Cordy resorted to using back up as she saw her former boss standing in the doorway. He went to reply, perhaps with some dire warning or an explanation for her visions to the Gileses, so she looked at him pointedly, shaking her head slightly indicating that he should just say 'yes she's fine'.

"Yes she's fine," Angel told them, "Congratulations by the way…"

"W-wait, you know?" Giles asked in confusion. He'd only just found out about the baby himself, so how did Angel know? Unless Buffy told him. Wait did Buffy even know? "How can you know?"

"Well, it's kind of obvious," Angel, replied gesturing back at the entire wedding party.

"Wedding. He's talking about the wedding," Joyce murmured to Giles.

"Yes," Angel nodded, before frowning, "Why? What would I be talking about?"

"Nothing," Joyce immediately replied, sensing that maybe she'd said it a little too quickly, it's just…she wasn't ready to shout the news from the rooftops. Actually, she intended to tell her parents over the phone…when they were back in Idaho.

"Nothing?" Angel questioned slowly as though he was debating whether to just let it slide and believe her.

"Yeah, nothing," Cordy agreed in a tone that suggested her recent 'vertigo' was making her oblivious to the lets-keep-it-quiet vibes both Joyce and Giles were emitting, "Except for like Joyce being pregnant and all"

"You're pregnant?" Angel asked, his eyebrows rose in quiet surprise.

"No." Joyce found herself immediately saying.

"You're not?" Now Angel just sounded confused.

"Well yes…" She admitted, "But no…"

"I'm confused," Angel told them.

"She is pregnant," Giles said.

"But she said no," Angel countered his eyes flicking from Joyce to Giles and back again.

"Well, I don't believe we want anyone to, ah…" Giles replied and Joyce finished the sentence.

"Know. At least not yet."

"Oh," Angel nodded in understanding as he tried to put this very confusing exchange out of his head, "Well… I guess that means another congratulations"

"Mm-hmm…" Joyce nodded, obviously a little uncomfortable about Angel knowing now, "Are you, uh, did you want something? From the kitchen, I mean?"

"Just going for some fresh air," He told her, pointing at the back door, "So-to-speak," He smiled since he didn't actually need air, but headed outside anyway, closing the door quietly behind him so it didn't slam.

He was stood on the porch, looking up at the clear skies above. Clear as they could get anyway in a modern world and he could see some stars twinkling above.

Why did Buffy always make him feel this way? So overpowered by emotions that he had no control over what he was doing. How?

He shook his head in an attempt to clear it when he heard a rustling in the bushes. Immediately Angel's senses honed in on the sound and his defenses went up. Something was lurking in the garden.

Walking across the grass, slowly, silently he headed over to where he had pinpointed the source of the noise. And instantly recognized the smell of the person before he'd even saw him. Reaching into the bushes with one strong arm he hauled Spike out by the scruff of his neck.

"Spike," Angel said simply, pure menace in his voice.

"Hey, hey," Spike said, shrugging him off coolly, "Watch the coat mate,"

"Yeah, it's a one of a kind," Angel commented sarcastically, "Now leave Spike before I make you _and_ the coat several pieces of one kind"

"Like to talk big don't ya?" Spike replied casually showing he wasn't the least bit threatened, "Yeah…tough talk for someone who's just as outside that house as I am" He gave Angel the once over, "At least _I'm_ not under any illusions about my place"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Angel asked, reluctantly biting.

"That you don't seem to know when you've outstayed your welcome," Spike could barely hide his grin as he told Angel this, "She was having a jolly good time of it with that guy over there," He pointed Gunn out through the window, "Until you walked in and buggered things up"

Angel couldn't help glancing back to inside where he could see Buffy, smile on face, mingling with the crowd once more.

"Go away Spike," Angel growled, Spike's words hitting too close to home for him to have any further form of a conversation with the vampire.

"I'm gone," Spike told him, trying to imply that he was leaving anyway, "But you haven't got a bloody clue have you mate?"

Angel shoved Spike harshly and he tumbled to the floor. Spike looked up at the vampire as he rubbed his lip where he felt blood coming from a cut caused by the fall. Angel didn't have his vamp face on, but Angelus was alive in his eyes and Spike knew he'd pushed it a little too far. Getting up, he didn't say another word as he started to walk off around the house.

Angel was watching him go when something white on the ground caught his attention. Something Spike had dropped. He picked it up and found it was a card- the congratulatory wedding type. He opened up and found a simple message to Joyce and Giles, no mocking, no sinister undertones and Spike hadn't even signed it. Angel's anger quickly turned to confusion.

* * *

Joyce and Giles were heading back into the living room behind Cordelia when something caught Joyce's eye through the kitchen window. A head of bleached-blonde hair. 

"I'll be right back," She told Giles, letting go of his hand and heading out the back door before he had a chance to ask questions.

Walking out the garden, she briefly caught sight of Angel sat dejected near the door, before she turned the corner to see Spike leaving.

"Spike?" She called out carefully and the vampire stopped walking and turned around to look at her.

"Hiya, pet," He looked around at the environment, "Just out for a stroll."

He resumed walking and seemed fully intent on leaving when he halted once again, spun around and headed back over to Joyce.

"Have you ever noticed how stupid Angel's hair is?" He asked, frustration evident in his voice, as he made sharp gestures around his head in an attempt of his impression of Angel's cut, "It sticks up all straight and at odd angles and…. it's bloody stupid is what it is"

Joyce hid a smirk.

"I take it you just bumped into Angel then?"

"Yeah, I did…" Spike said distractedly as he starting sniffing the air causing Joyce to become very, _very_ unnerved.

"Erm…what…is it?" She asked nervously, backing up slightly when he started sniffing closer to her and also seemed to be listening very carefully to every movement.

He stopped this action abruptly and looked at Joyce in keen surprise.

"Are you pregnant?" He asked suddenly and it was everything she could do not to literally jump in surprise.

"How did you know?" She asked, seeing no reason to deny it.

"Gives you a different smell," He replied simply, and Joyce immediately looked worried, "Oh don't worry, everyone has a smell- just most can't smell it. By most I mean people- humans. Plus, I can hear like something extra. Nothing major, mind you…just a little something." He thought on this, "Maybe it's the bit's heartbeat…dunno whether it would have a heart yet but…" He shrugged, "I don't make the rules, do I?"

And without saying anything further he gave her a little goodbye nod of the head, before turning around and walking off, leaving Joyce still wondering what he was doing here in the first place.

* * *

"Hey," Buffy smiled cheerfully and Gunn, who was sat down on the sofa talking to Willow and Tara, looked up. 

"Hi…" His tone was wary, "So where's Angel?"

"Doing what he does best, honing his brooding skills," Xander informed him as he and Anya walked past them in the direction of the dining room, both in search of food and Gunn had to hide his laugh. They didn't get to exit before Buffy casually elbowed him in the side.

"Hahaha…" Xander's laughter trailed off as he realized the pain the jab had caused, "Okay…ow."

"Anyway…" Buffy carried on talking to Gunn and save for the elbow jab, seemed to ignore what Xander said, "You were right about a dance not being as deadly as I thought…and I was wondering whether you'd like to finish it?"

* * *

Shortly after Gunn and Buffy left to do the dancing thing, Giles took the spare seat beside Willow and Tara.

"Hi," Tara smiled at him and he smiled back, though he was smiling anyway so she had to just assume he was smiling at her.

"What's up with you?" Willow asked, "You're all beamified,"

Giles knew that he and Joyce were for keeping-it-quiet at the moment, but that was mainly regarding their family and parents…but he truly saw no harm in telling Willow or Tara.

"Joyce is, ah, Joyce is pregnant," He told them with a grin and he literally saw their jaws drop open in shock.

"What? How?" Willow asked and he gave her a look, "Okay maybe not how…but there's definitely a what to be asked"

"She's pregnant," Giles repeated, "I mean it wasn't planned but…"

"But you're as happy as two very happy things?" Willow filled in with a grin and Giles couldn't do anything but nod happily and Tara smiled a silent laugh at the sight of him.

"Did everyone else know that Angel is sat on the back porch step?" Joyce asked walking up to them.

"Well…no," Willow replied, "But I think it might be to do with how Buffy and Gunn are getting on"

Joyce looked over to see her daughter laughing and dancing with a _human_ guy for once and found it gave her a very good feeling since Buffy hadn't had any normal boyfriends except Riley and that had come with it's very own government complications. However, she knew Buffy wasn't quite over the devastating end to that relationship and worried that she may be rushing into things if everything went further with Gunn.

She forced herself out of her thoughts and looked back at Giles, Willow and Tara. Tara and Giles were smiling at her, normal smiles but Willow's smile could be classed as a downright eager grin.

"What? What is it?" She asked.

"You're pregnant!" Willow said giddily, but luckily no one else around seemed to hear her thanks to the loud music. Willow instantly got up and gave Joyce a tight hug and Joyce was genuinely surprised by and unprepared for the sudden burst of enthusiasm from the red head.

"Wait," Joyce said, a thought occurring to her, "You can't smell it too can you?"

"What?" Willow frowned in genuine puzzlement.

"Never mind," Joyce said, waving it aside, "I'm uh, I'm thinking of someone else"


	23. Intervention

Zigpal- Thanks for review, knew you'd like the Gunn choicage, but re Dawnie, Dawn already knows she's pregnant- she was at the dressmakers when Joyce slipped up. And well…the 'Lily' vision is going to have complications in this chapter and in season six. And yay- my claps are back! Hehe.

g120- thanks and yeah- I just thought Spike's Forever gesture was just so sweet that I wanted to keep it in someway. Sorry about the flashforwards etc, but take heart I don't think I'll be flashing forward again or anything. At least I don't _plan_ to. Hehe and glad you liked how Will reacted hehe.

Rabidreject- thanks for review and yah, Angel can be very broodilicious

* * *

Just over six weeks ago she had found out, or rather figured out, she was pregnant. Three weeks ago she'd been wearing her wedding dress. So much could happen in a short space of time, so much had. 

Standing in front of the full length, she began the age-old habit, of looking her reflection up and down the moment she got up. It was a bad habit that she desperately needed to kick as it more often than not ended up with her tearing herself apart.

Today though, she wasn't feeling too critical. Despite her recent odd sleeping patterns including the sleeping in late, there wasn't a single bag under her eyes and she didn't look tired at all. And she looked healthier than she had in a long time- ah, the upside of the pregnancy glow.

Instinctively, she lifted the bottom of her pyjama top slightly, so her stomach was bare. At barely over six weeks, the bump was hardly noticeable to the naked eye, but it was definitely growing. To someone who didn't know it would seem as though she had just put on a little weight. But running her hand over her stomach, the miniature bump had a firmness that excess weight didn't have, it had shape and she could feel it as she ran her bare palm over it.

* * *

Walking into the kitchen, Joyce saw that the breakfast-making ceremony was in full swing. Conscious that everyone else was fully dressed, she pulled her nightgown tighter around her. 

"Hey Mom," Buffy greeted her when she caught sight of her in the kitchen doorway, "Toast?"

Joyce shook her head, the thought of eating any food at all presently making her very not well.

"How about bacon?" Dawn offered as Giles walked over to Joyce, just thinking her Mom said no because she didn't feel like toast, "We have bacon"

"God no," Joyce grimaced, "No bacon"

"Are you okay?" Giles asked as he reached her, looking at her in concern.

"No I'm fine," She assured him, "Just normal pregnancy symptoms. Perfectly normal, no need to worry," She started to shove him away, "But please stand over there- your aftershave's making me kinda nauseous,"

Buffy bit back a laugh at the confusedly hurt expression on Giles' face. He clearly had no idea what to expect on the pregnant woman front.

"I wouldn't say no to fruit juice though," Joyce said as she took a seat at the island, "If anyone is in pamper Mom mode"

"Ooh! I am!" Dawn said enthusiastically but before she could make any moves to pour the drink Buffy swooped him.

"Be that as it may I think we can do without Dawn wreckage this morning," Buffy stated, grabbing the juice carton herself, ignoring Dawn's sulk.

"I'm okay now," Joyce told Giles as she took the glass of juice Buffy offered her, "It was just that first smell of your aftershave- kinda sent me a little-"

"Vomitateous?" Dawn supplied a made-up word.

"_Unwell,_" Joyce corrected, smiling at Dawn patiently, before looking back at Giles, "You can come over here now," She told him and relieved he walked over and immediately started fussing over her.

Buffy watched the scene and found herself smiling as she watched Giles kiss her Mom's cheek before fussing over her some more. It was so affectionate, and it looked sweet between them, but the thought of being that affectionate with someone kinda freaked Buffy out a little.

And that thought played on her mind.

* * *

"I wanna cool it on the slay-training front. For a bit." 

"But you were doing so well," Giles reasoned.

"A-and you were great," Buffy agreed, "helping me with everything. I'm just starting to feel uneasy about stuff"

"Stuff?" Giles repeated in question as the two of them sat down on the sofa.

"Training. Slaying. All of it," Buffy told him, "It's just…I mean I can beat up the demons till the cows come home…and then I can beat up the cows…but I'm not sure I like what it's doing to me"

"But you've mastered so much," Giles appealed, "I mean your strength and resilience alone-"

"Yeah," Buffy nodded, "Strength, resilience…those are all words for hardness. I'm starting to feel like being the Slayer is turning me into stone"

"Turning you into stone?" He repeated in disbelief, "Buffy-"

"Just think about it," She told him, standing up to pace, "I was never there for Riley. Not like I was for Angel. I've been terrible to Dawn…and, like I saw you and Mom this morning and that kind of intimacy…it terrifies me" Buffy admitted.

"Buffy, I don't know why you suddenly feel this way, maybe it's your seeing Angel again…and Gunn returning to L.A with him, but I assure you-"

"No," Buffy interrupted him, "It's not suddenly. It's been gradual. And I don't mean love as in boyfriend love. I mean family love as well. The other day, when we were all picking Dawn up from school and her teacher, Ms Ashton, was there? She introduced you as her Stepdad. But that just- I can't say that," She admitted, "I mean my tongue goes all funny when I try and say I love someone…you. I can't say the words."

"Buffy, I-"

"But I do," She interrupted him just as her Mom came into the room, apparently looking for something, "I love you Giles. Love, love, love, love, love, loooove Giles. It feels strange"

"I shouldn't wonder," Giles agreed.

"Is there something I should know about?" Joyce joked, before carrying on glancing around the room, "Has anyone seen my glasses?"

"There in the kitchen next to the paper," Buffy answered distractedly, "You know I love you right, Mom?"

"Of course," Joyce smiled, "I love you too honey."

"But like, I _really_ love you," Buffy insisted, giving her Mom a tight hug.

"I know," Joyce laughed slightly, "What's brought this on?"

"Buffy believes…thinks…that being the Slayer is affecting her ability to love" Giles explained.

"What?" Joyce asked, "Buffy, that's ridiculous"

"Is it?" Buffy questioned her, sounding very unconvinced.

"Of course it is," Joyce assured her, pushing her daughter's hair back behind her ears as though she were fifteen and not twenty, "You are just as loving a person as you've always been"

"How serious are you about this Buffy?" Giles asked.

"Ten," She replied, "Serious to the amount of ten"

"There is something," Giles admitted, "in the Watchers' Diaries…a quest…"

"A quest?" Buffy repeated, "Like finding a grail or something?"

"Not a grail," Giles corrected her, "Maybe answers. It would take a day. Perhaps two"

"A day or two?" Joyce repeated, suddenly sounding less supportive, "You mean you'd be leaving?"

"Well, uh, yes," Giles admitted, "But only for a little while"

"So you're just gonna up and leave are you? Just go, like that." Joyce accused him and Giles, frowned

"Joyce I-" He began believing her to be a little selfish about things, but he stopped talking when he saw Buffy shaking her head emphatically at him. This followed by numerous charade-like actions that seemed to convey the message to him that Joyce's sudden change in mood was hormone related.

"No, I'm fed up of waiting around for you to pay some actual attention. In case you haven't noticed my body, my sleep, my eating habits, everything has gone wonky and I know I've been here before- twice- but that doesn't mean that I don't need you around to help me through it!" Joyce continued. She stopped talking, putting a hand to her head."Whoa- sorry, just got a little dizzy there"

"P-perhaps all this, ah, shouting is upsetting the, uh, baby?" Giles suggested carefully, wary of setting her off shouting again.

"Rupert, the baby is like this big," She held her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart from one another, "All this shouting is upsetting the Mommy"

"Well, maybe I, that is we of course, shouldn't shout?"

"But it seems to be the only way lately that I can you to pay full attention to what I have to say and to what is going on!"

"Joyce, I," Giles struggled to put across what he wanted to say, "Buffy has Slayer issues at the moment so perhaps-"

"No, no perhaps," Joyce interrupted him, "I'm tired of I don't have time, or I've got to research something. For once, I would like to consider what I think before you decide to go away for a few days on some_ quest_"

"Joyce, I-I, uh, I understand you're, ah, concerns," Giles reasoned, "So perhaps we could talk about this- in depth- later?"

"Oh, I think you should talk about it now," Buffy advised him in a whisper, "We'll talk about my quest thing later," She added before leaving the room and therefore leaving him to deal with her Mom's wrath. Just the way things should be.

"Joyce, I'm very sorry if you think I'm somehow…." Giles couldn't believe he was saying these words, "Neglecting you in some way, but-"

"I just don't want you to go," Joyce said quietly, tears pricking at her eyes and Giles knew what was coming.

"Oh no, it's okay, don't- ah, please, uh, don't cry," He resisted adding the word 'again'.

"Rupert, we only just got married three weeks ago and we didn't get a honeymoon because Glory's after us and Dawn and so it feels like we've barely had time to celebrate it and I'm pregnant and going through all these pregnancy symptoms that no matter how many times you go through it are still pretty scary and yet you're still leaving for two days even though I really need you here with me now and so Rupert, I'm perfectly entitled to do the crying thing"

And then she really was doing the crying thing, so he wrapped his arms around her and the two of the sat down together on the sofa.

"I hate being needy," She mumbled and he chuckled at her attitude to the whole situation.

* * *

"I am absolutely confounded Buffy," Giles said as the two of them drove towards the desert. Buffy hoped he wasn't talking about the directions to where they were going because she really wasn't in the mood for getting lost in the middle of nowhere, "I just don't understand any of it" 

"You think you're meant to?" She asked, wondering how clueless he could actually be.

"Well, yes, a little at least," He admitted as he took a right turn, "One moment she's very happy, giggling even and the next I'm the source of all the world's problems and she's crying her eyes out because the woman on the TV commercial can't find contact lenses that don't sting"

"Welcome to the world of pregnant, hormonal women," Buffy grinned, silently admitting to herself that she was enjoying the painful confusion Giles was going through. "I mean just wait until-"

"Until?" Giles interrupted, barely keeping his eyes on the road as he looked at her in shock, "T-there's more? She's going to get worse?"

"Oh yeah," Buffy informed him, barely hiding her Cheshire cat type grin, "A huge component of the third trimester is complaining"

"Complaining _and_ mood swings?" He asked and seeing his look of abject fear at dealing with the mere thought of it, she took pity on him.

"Yeah, but there's all the good stuff as well," She assured him, "Like the scans, finding out whether it's a boy or girl, feeling it kick, thinking up a name- all the fun parts" All the fun parts she herself would probably never ever get to experience, Buffy couldn't help thinking sourly to herself. Another self-sacrifice that came with being the Slayer. It sucked.

"The concept of naming is really rather exciting," Giles admitted, sounding even more British than usual in his barely contained enthusiasm.

"Yeah, just don't listen to Dawn's suggestions," Buffy advised him, "She had plans for, if it's a girl, for it to be called Angelique"

Giles just merely looked at Buffy in silent distaste and she nodded in agreement.

"Exactly," Buffy paused in thought for a moment before asking the name question that had been preying on her mind since Dawn told her the Angelique suggestion, "Hey, if it's a boy, you're not planning on calling it like Rupert Jr or anything are ya?" She asked, "Coz that'd be just cruel"

* * *

"Okay, we should probably split up into pairs," Xander debated as he, Anya, Tara and Willow were walking to Buffy's house, "Two of us should stay with Joyce and Dawn- make sure they're okay, the other two can patrol" 

"Ooh, Tara and I could do a protection spell round the house," Willow suggested, "Make it extra safey"

"Oh good," Xander nodded with approval, "Then maybe it's best you two are the ones that stay there. Chant the chant."

"But I don't want to patrol," Anya protested honestly, "I don't see why we should have to patrol just because Buffy's away anyway. I mean I know that I for one would much rather be inside watching television"

"Fine," Xander agreed patiently, just as they turned onto Revello Drive, "We'll stay inside with Joyce and Dawn. We'll hang, we'll eat chips, we'll watch TV- all of the above," he turned to look at Willow and Tara, "You two good to patrol?"

"Yeah," Willow assured him, "We'll just set up the spell first"

"How does that work again?" Xander asked.

"Well, we cast a-" Tara was about to go magickal mumbo jumbo, but stopped herself when she realized Xander wouldn't have a clue what she was talking about, "We cast a spell on the house and if anything evil walks in…"

"This little baby does a intruder alert on us," Willow finished off holding up a clear quartz crystal, "It'll give off a harmonic tone…." She paused, "Or glows green…. we're not quite sure which"

* * *

"Xander come sit over here," Anya said later on, from where she sat with Joyce on the sofa, watching TV and munching over a shared bowl of chips. Dawn was already in bed so it was just the three adults that remained up. Joyce had initially protested, saying she didn't need glorified babysitters, but had eventually relented when Anya, having already settled herself down on the couch, flipped on the latest episode of _C.S.I_. No one in the house besides Joyce enjoyed the fairly new show, so she had been glad to finally have someone to watch it with who didn't complain every five minutes like Dawn, and sometimes, even Buffy. Giles just had a silent protest with his occasional looks of disapproval. 

"Come on," Anya insisted, patting the spare seat on the other side of her on the sofa.

"No, I'm good here," Xander assured her hurriedly and both women squinted at him with suspicion, "What? I'm fine"

"Are you embarrassed to be sat near me?" Joyce asked, believing she was clicking onto what was going on.

"No," Xander said a little too quickly, "Yes…but no more than yes. It's just…" He immediately struggled to explain, "It's just at first you were Buffy's Mom…and then you were Buffy's Mom and Giles' girlfriend/fiancee/wife and that's all good. But now with the whole…Giles baby concept you're like…this whole new person that has a little extra along for the ride…and I don't really know how to deal with it…yet," He added the last thought just in case he was going to stick his foot any further in his mouth.

"You see what he really means is," Anya turned to Joyce with a smile, helpfully translating Xander's ramblings, "You being pregnant in turn reminds him that I also have the ability to be impregnated and so he's afraid to sit near you while I'm in close proximity as it reminds him of this concept and he's afraid that I'll suddenly get all broody and want lots and lots and lots of babies"

Joyce smiled at Anya's eager translation before looking over at Xander.

"Xander…did you try to think of me as…just 'Joyce'?" She asked and Xander shrugged.

"Well, yeah, but you need a category don't you?" He grinned, before pausing in dramatic thought, "Maybe you're a hybrid column…"

* * *

An hour or so later, when _C.S.I_ was long over and something else entirely was flickering on the TV, Willow and Tara burst through the front door, worry and panic on their faces. 

"Guys, guys!" Willow called, "Is Giles here?"

"What?" Joyce asked, "No- he's on that quest…retreat…thing…" She wasn't quite sure what it was to be perfectly honest "You know that"

"Why do you ask?" Xander questioned them, standing up to face them, clearly suspicious of their cluelessness.

"Because we just saw Buffy. At the graveyard. Patrolling. With Spike," Willow replied.

"Okay…that just created a whole world of whats," Xander concluded looking at Anya and Joyce in confusion as though turning to them for an explanation, but they looked as puzzled as he was.

"But that's not at all," Tara told them, "When we saw her…we also something kinda weird"

"What is it?" Joyce asked, "Is Buffy okay?"

"She's gone crazy," Willow stated simply in reply.

"What?"

"No, not crazy," Tara instantly hurried to calm Joyce down while putting one hand on Willow's shoulder, silently telling her that was the wrong thing to say, "She's…uh, just gone a little nuts"

"Huh? Will, what's going on?" Xander asked, "What- was she tap-dancing on gravestones or something?"

"Not exactly," Willow grimaced, realizing this was going to be harder to explain than she thought, "You see, erm, after seeing her…with Spike…we left…to stop patrolling and…well, erm, when we left you see, we-"

"Willow, _what_ was she doing?" Joyce attempted to get the redhead to go straight to the point.

"Spike" Willow replied.

"What?" Xander hoped he had just taken the reply out of context.

"She was doing Spike…" Willow elaborated quietly.

"Oh my god…" Joyce breathed- it was like Angel all over again…but not…and yet…god.

"Maybe it's part of the Quest- some vision thingy maybe?" Xander suggested, the personification of straw clutching.

"Yes," Anya agreed sarcastically, "Giles sent her on a Quest to boink Spike. That'll be it."

"Could you _not_?" Xander pleaded desperately, "I'm facing total mental breakdown here"

"Breakdown!" Willow exclaimed, her eyes filled with epiphany light.

"Huh?" Xander asked.

"A breakdown- she might be having a breakdown," Willow explained to them all, "Maybe she saw something particularly shocking in the Quest- and she's just like completely broke down and….somehow that led to Graveyard sex with Spike" She looked at Joyce apologetically, "Sorry"

"No…it's uh…it's okay," Joyce assured her, but she didn't sound too convincing, "But, why isn't Rupert back yet? If Buffy is? It doesn't make sense" She was hoping when sense was made it would be revealed that Buffy wasn't sleeping with Spike at all. Well, hope springs eternal.

"Maybe he had to stay behind." Anya suggested, "Do some Watcher-Slayer clean-up, but Buffy came home straightaway because after enlightenment she was eager for the slaying and the boinking"

"Anya!" Xander exclaimed, wishing she wouldn't talk of sex with Spike so casually.

"What?" Anya had no clue what Xander was getting at.

"Well, the only way we can get the whys and wherefores," Xander said, ignoring Anya as he chose to view her question as rhetorical, "Is if we find Buffy and ask her, or bring her home- talk to her"

"Good idea," Willow agreed, "Okay we'll take the east side cemeteries and streets, you two take the west"

"Gotcha," Xander nodded and with that the four of them left.

"And I'll just stay here…" Joyce murmured, sitting back down on the sofa, "In case she comes back"

* * *

"What the hell is that and why is its hair that color?" 

"Stunning one," Murk replied, "We believe he is…." There was a pause as both he and Jinx waited to say together-

"The key!"

"Really?" Glory smiled widely, "That's fantabulous!" Her smiled faded as she came forward and shoved Murk out of the way, "And impossible. He can't be the key, because see…the key has to be pure." She began to sniff Spike and he looked visibly offended by the action, "This is a vampire. Lesson number one- vampires equal impure"

"Yeah, damn right I'm impure," Spike insisted, trying to cover up his fear, "I'm as impure as the driven yellow snow now let me go"

"You can't even brain-suck a vampire" Glory continued, "He's completely useless"

"So, I'm just gonna let myself out," Spike attempted to leave but Murk and Jinx held onto him tightly.

"But your holiness," Jinx insisted, "We observed the Slayer. She protected this one above all others. She treated him as a precious"

"Precious?" Glory repeated, "Really?"

"But-" Murk began, before faltering.

"But what?" Glory asked, not letting him get away with it.

"But there was another that piqued our interest," He continued.

"What? Another radioactive vampire you think is the key?"

"Your brilliantness, there is one in the group who is with child," Murk continued, "It is possible that the child she's carrying is-"

"The key," Glory finished, "It'd fit…. it's new…in a place the Slayer would definitely want to protect it…" She grinned as everything started to come together; the smile disappeared as she turned to Murk and Jinx with an order, "What are you waiting for? Get her here!"

"No! It's not Joyce!" Spike called after them, but it had no affect.

"You're all protecting of her though…'nough of a confirmation for me," Glory grinned, "Now let's take a look at you precious"

* * *

It had been a while and neither Buffy, Giles or the others had returned to the house. In fact, Buffy and Giles had still to turn up at all. Joyce was still in her clothes and as she reached into the fridge for juice she wondered whether to just give in and get ready for bed instead of waiting up. She was sure Dawn was having a good time sleeping, being temporarily oblivious to everything that was going on in their lives. In the case of Buffy and Spike she prayed she would stay permanently oblivious. 

After pouring out her drink, she put the carton back in the fridge and closed the door…. to find some creepy demon thing stood on the other side of it. Before she could let out a scream a scabby hand belonging to another of the demons put a hand across her mouth tightly and the two of them dragged her out, leaving the kitchen door wide open and the drink on the side left untouched.

* * *

"It's almost morning, we're not gonna find her anytime soon," Willow decided as she and Tara began to walk back to where they had planned to meet Anya and Xander. 

"Yeah," Tara agreed, "She'll probably be at home now- we can talk to her there"

"No joy either?" Xander asked, walking over to them with Anya, breaking into their conversation.

"No, we're joy-free. I'm thinking- argh!" Willow cut herself off with a scream and quickly yanked her hand out of her pocket.

"You think argh?" Xander frowned as Willow carefully put her hand back in her pocket and pulled out the crystal which was right now, burning hot.

"The house" She stated simply, "Something's attacking at Buffy's" At this Xander immediately set off at a run and the three women quickly followed.

"At least we know what the crystal does now," Willow said to Tara as they ran, making an attempt at levity.

* * *

"Mom? Buffy? Giles?" Dawn called as she walked down the stairs in the silent house. It was early morning, the sun was barely up, but she felt wide awake. As she reached the bottom of the stairs she saw Buffy stood there, looking earnestly up at her. 

"Spike's gone," She said simply, "Do you know where he is?"

"Er…no," Dawn frowned wondering why Buffy was suddenly so concerned about Spike's whereabouts when she spent half her time trying to get rid of him, "Have you seen Mom? Or Giles? I don't think they're here"

"I don't understand that question," Buffy replied, "But thank you for asking!"

"Right…" Dawn said worriedly, just shaking it off as Buffy weirdness, before heading in the direction of the kitchen. "Mom? Are you in here?" She called, but found an empty kitchen, an untouched glass of juice on the side. Dawn frowned and looked around to find the kitchen door was open. "Mom's gone" Dawn stated in panic, looking to her sister for help. "Where's Giles? Is he with you? It's not still…wait, how come you're back and he's not…? Shouldn't you be back at the same time?"

"I don't understand that question, but thank you for asking!" Buffy repeated her answer from before with the same chipper smile and warning bells went off in Dawn's head.

"DAWN!" Willow's voice carried through the entire house, "DAWN! JOYCE?"

Dawn pushed past Buffy to head over to the group of four.

"I'm fine but Mom's gone and Giles isn't here and Buffy's acting really weird," Her information burst came out in a fast paced rush and she could visibly see the four trying to decipher it.

"Wait, Joyce is gone?" Xander asked, "And Giles gone as well??"

"Yeah, but I don't think Giles even came home" Dawn said, "But Mom….the kitchen door was left open and there's a drink on the side that's not been drank…I…where is she?" Dawn looked terrified and understandably worried and Tara pulled her into a warm hug.

"It's okay," She said in a soothing tone, "We'll find her…everything will be okay, I promise. Don't worry about it okay?"

"We have to find Spike," Buffy announced walking over to them.

"Buffy, let's stop focusing on Spike for a second and more on the fact that your Mom's missing,"

"Mom's missing?" A voice asked and the group turned to see a second Buffy stood behind them with Giles.

"Yeah, she's…." Xander trailed off and looked between Buffy One in the hall and Buffy Two on the front step, "Huh?"

"Say look at you!" Buffy One exclaimed at Buffy Two, "You look just like me! We're very pretty"

"Two of them!" Willow exclaimed in loud confusion.

"Hey I know this- they're both Buffy!" Xander concluded, but felt less happy with himself when both Buffy and Giles threw him a look.

"No…" Buffy Two shook her head and pointed at Buffy One, "That's a robot. She acts just like that girlfriend-bot that Warren guy made. You guys couldn't tell me apart from a _robot_?"

"Oh I don't think I'm a robot," Buffybot grinned.

"She's very well done," Anya informed Buffy.

"Oh," Xander said as he realized, "Spike must have had her programmed to-"

"I beg you to stop talking," Giles pleaded.

"Oh god," Buffy breathed with a look of pure disgust.

"Yikes," Willow exclaimed, "Imagine the things…"

"No!" Buffy yelled, "There will be no imagining!"

"Or talking about it either," Tara added, nodded at Dawn who she was still hugging and the rest got the message and promptly shut up.

"Right, we have more important things to talk about," Xander agreed, "Like the fact your Mom's gone Buffy"

"What?" Both Giles and Buffy exclaimed.

"There's no sign of a struggle but Dawn said the kitchen door had been left wide-open," Xander elaborated.

"People, friends of mine," Buffybot said before either Buffy or Giles could comment on the situation, "You're forgetting the most important thing. Demons took Spike and they're going to harm him"

"Huh?" Xander frowned, "Why would demons _take _Spike?"

"Glory's demons…" Buffy said quietly, almost to herself as she tried to put together the two disappearances, before looking at the rest of the group, "He knows about Dawn! Grab weapons everyone. We have to save Mom and kill Spike"

"But how are you sure that it's Glory that has Joyce, Buffy?" Giles asked, but getting weapons nonetheless.

"Just playing the Sunnydale odds," She replied, "No such thing as a coincidence"

"Good point," Giles agreed.

"But we don't even know where to look," Willow reminded them.

"I know where to start," Buffy replied, "Tara- will you stay here and look after Dawn?"

"Yeah, sure," Tara replied.

"Great, let's go- I have a vampire to kill"

* * *

"This is fun isn't it precious?" Glory grinned manically at Spike, extending her forefinger, preparing to rip into his abdomen with her painted to perfection finger. 

"Perfect graciousness!" Jinx exclaimed, stopping Glory before she could cause Spike anymore pain, "We have-"

"The key!" Both minions said in synchronization as before, this time dragging forward Joyce instead of Spike.

"Ooh! Yay!" Glory exclaimed, clapping her hands together in excitement, "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!"

Murk had to forcibly drag Joyce towards the hell god as she tried to pull away, knowing full well the damage Glory could do.

"Why's she all tied up?" Glory asked, looking at the tie around Joyce's mouth with a frown.

"She isn't strong-" Jinx informed her.

"Though her kicks do hurt," Murk added in a mumble rubbing his leg.

"But she is quite a screamer," Jinx continued, "We thought it best for us all to gag her your wonderful fabulousness"

"Good thinking," Glory said distractedly, barely even meaning it but Jinx smiled anyway, "But you're not gonna scream now are ya?" Glory smiled at Joyce as she shook her head silently, the gag preventing her from actually verbalizing the promise. "Thought not," Glory grinned, "Take the gag _off_ minions," Glory drawled impatiently as though she expected them to do it five minutes ago.

Joyce didn't scream or say a word actually, but her eyes widened in horror as she caught sight of the terrible state of Spike.

"Yeah," Glory agreed, looking in the same direction, "He _is_ in pretty bad shape. Great thing about vampires you see- hard to kill." She wore that crazy grin again, "Ya see…I just got so bored…waiting for you"

"For me?" Joyce asked, very confused by what was going on.

"Yeah, I mean you know I need my key right?" Glory checked, "And baddabing here you are"

"What?" Joyce frowned, "I'm not-"

"No, of course ya not." Glory agreed, taking Joyce's hand in hers and moving it to rest on her stomach, "But this little chicklet in here is. Thing is," Glory continued and walked around Joyce as she spoke. However, she didn't let go of her hand and Joyce felt it twist painfully and something, more than likely a bone given the terrible odds, snapped in her wrist and she yelled in pain.

"Did that hurt?" Glory asked, feigning concern, before twisting it even further causing Joyce to cry out in pain yet again, "Don't you know it's rude to interrupt? Hello? Anyone in there? Not everything is about _you_. Now what I was saying was I don't have to time to wait for a whole frickin nine months for that little thing in there-" She poked her in the abdomen sharply, "To pop outta ya. So I'm gonna just have to bleed _you_ which means…I can't afford to spill a single drop of your blood!" As she said this, Glory had walked back the way she had come so while Joyce's wrist was still in extreme pain, it was no longer bending the wrong way. Glory however was directly in her face, and it took everything Joyce had not to look away from her gaze, "But I can still cause _so much pain_ without even spilling the teeniest bit!" She grinned, "Sounds like a fun challenge don't ya think?"

"Oh for Christ's sake even your bloody threats are lame," Spike coughed out just before Glory went to do further damage to Joyce's other wrist and she spun around to look at him.

"What?"

"And you're never gonna get your sodding key," he continued, "Because you might be strong, but in our world- you're an idiot."

Letting go of Joyce, Glory stormed over to the vampire, but paused midway as she realized this meant leaving Joyce unattended and free to escape. Barely even looking back she swung her arm, which connected with Joyce and sent her into the nearby wall and slumping onto the floor, but luckily (or unluckily depending on how you look at it) still conscious.

"You stay there," Glory ordered as though Joyce had much of a choice with all the pain shooting through her. That dealt with, Glory turned back to Spike, "Now you- my little bloodsucker, I am a god"

"The god of what?" Spike challenged, "Bad home perms?"

"Shut up!" Glory yelled, patting her hair self consciously, "I command you, shut up!"

"Yeah, yeah, okay, sorry," Spike apologized insincerely, "I just had no idea that Gods were such prancing lightweights, mark my words the Slayer" He coughed, the severe injuries Glory had caused him catching up with him, "is going to kick your skanky, _lopsided_ ass, back to whatever place would take a" He looked her up and down, sizing her up as he selected some appropriate adjectives, "cheap, whorish, fashion victim ex-god like you"

Unable to control her anger, Glory spun around and delivered a powerful spinning kick to Spike's chest and as the force caused his hands to break free of the chains he went flying across the room, smashing open the door and landed a few inches away from Joyce.

"Great plan Spike," He mumbled, before, despite his terrible injuries and the excruciatingly distracting pain he was in, grabbing Joyce's non-injured hand and dragged her out of the room and along the corridor with him, neither of them sure who was holding up who.

"Bring them back!" Glory screamed at Murk and Jinx and the two immediately exited while Glory stalked over to where a small bit of blood smeared the wall, where Joyce had hit it, no doubt through scraping her back or something on impact. Running her hands over it, so it was on her fingers, Glory brought it up to her lips, wishing to taste just the smallest power of the key to remind her what it would bring her.

She spat the blood out in distaste. Neither Joyce nor the baby was the key. Neither! Which meant Glory still had to find who the goddamn key was.

* * *

"Come on," Spike said more to himself than anyone as he and Joyce ran to the elevator that was slowly closing. He had almost lost all hope as the door almost closed, but Joyce put her foot between it just in time. 

"Practice at shopping malls," She shrugged, attempting to add some levity to the situation that the two of them both desperately needed.

Collapsing into the elevator, the two of them both sighed a huge sigh of relief as the door closed on the minions.

"Oh my god, Spike, you're…oh my god…" Joyce couldn't think of a word that would describe the terrible injuries Spike wore. Her hand hurt terribly enough, so she couldn't even begin to imagine the pain Spike was going through, "We need to get you to a hospital"

"No," He shook his head and this effort caused him to spit out blood, "Vampire, remember? Plus, too many questions"

"We need to do something-" Joyce protested, "You're…you're…."

"Falling apart," Spike tried to grin, but the bloodied cuts on his face made it hard to do so, "But I'll heal…. I hope." Spike used the moment of silence in the elevator as they went down the flights to take in the injuries Joyce had got. Broken wrist, several bruises on her face where she'd hit the wall and- "You're bleeding too you know," He pointed out to her. And she looked down to where he was pointing and saw the front of her top had been completely scraped away from the impact against the wall, and where it had been scraped, she could see blood seeping through.

"Oh no…" She breathed, seeing where the blood was coming from, "Oh no…"

At that point the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened and there were Murk and Jinx.

"You do not insult Glory by escaping!" Murk exclaimed

But before they could do anything about it the front doors opened and Xander, Giles, Anya and _two_ Buffies walked in. The sight of the second Buffy confused Joyce but only made Spike groan in complaint.

"Slayer!" Murk said, laying his eyes on her. Though his look became less determined and more confused when he saw two of them.

Buffy shot him with her crossbow, but Murk kicked the crossbow out of her hands and punched her.

"Joyce!" Giles shouted running over to where she and Spike were sat, or rather crumpled in Spike's case, in the elevator, "Are you okay?"

She just gave him a look.

"Well, at least you're well enough to glare…" Giles reasoned as he looked at her taking in the bruises on her face and the seemingly broken wrist.

"Rupert…" She quietly caught his attention and she held out her hand that had the blood from her injury on her and then he saw the severe scrape across her stomach where the blood was coming from.

"Oh god," He said, realizing what it could mean. He picked her up, not letting her walk herself and started to take her outside- an easier feat now that the demons were running off up the stairs in fear.

"But- Spike…someone needs to help Spike…" She told him, barely a murmur and he looked back at the injured vampire and then at everyone else in the room, including the smiling robot. The robot stopped smiling when it saw the state of Spike though and immediately ran over to him, "Someone will," He assured her.

* * *

Willow was at the Magic Box with Anya de-wiring the robot so it would no longer be a kink toy for Spike. Well, actually Willow was de-wiring, Anya was just at the shop. 

Buffy and Xander though, after dropping Willow, Anya and Buffybot off at the Magic Box had drove onto the hospital where Giles had immediately taken Joyce.

"She just looked so badly beaten up," Buffy was saying as the two of them walked down the corridor in search of the room the woman at reception had directed them to, "I mean, I didn't get much of a look what with the fight and with the whole Giles rushing her out of there faster than Bullseye, but she…. she just looked so bad. Maybe not as bad as Spike…but still pretty damn bad"

"I know," Xander agreed sombrely, "But it's Glory though…so…we should just be erm…" Xander couldn't get out what he was trying to say but Buffy knew what he meant and she filled in for him.

"Glad she isn't dead?"

"Pretty much," Xander nodded.

"I know…god it's just-" Buffy stopped as she read the number on one of the small-room doors, "This is it"

She pushed the door open just as the doctor came walking out having had the post-medical attention conference that members of the Scooby Gang always seemed to require after attending the hospital since their injuries were pretty hard to explain away. By the look on this particular doctor's face Buffy guessed that he suspected Giles of beating her Mom.

Walking in Buffy and Xander saw the two of them sat there looking completely heartbroken and dejected. She instinctively knew that the expression on their faces had nothing to do with what the doctor had most likely said to them about marriage counselling and how Joyce should never be afraid to talk to someone, but about something completely and something so much worse.

Buffy believed she knew what it was, as did Xander.

_Where are we? What the hell is going on? _

Noticing vaguely that someone else had come into the room the couple looked up to see Buffy and Xander standing there.

"Buffy…" Joyce said, her voice breaking at the sight of her daughter and Buffy rushed over to hug her.

_The sweeping insensitivity of this still life. _

"It's strange isn't it?" Anya asked abruptly and Xander looked up from where he had been sat on his couch, not doing much of anything really, except sat there.

"What is?"

"Well, it's just Joyce had this totally new life inside of her," Anya explained, "And now it's no longer there. Just gone"

"Yeah…gone," Xander agreed, deep in thought and the pair fell into silence again.

"I don't like it," Anya suddenly concluded, "It's made everything sad and everyone now feels really bad…it shouldn't have happened"

Xander smiled at his girlfriend warmly before patting the seat beside him and she climbed onto the couch with him, resting her head on his chest.

"No, it shouldn't have," Xander agreed quietly as he put one arm around warmly, yet casually so the two of them were just sat there, entwined.

_Spin me round again and rub my eyes, this can't be happening. _

Dawn walked into the kitchen in the morning, to find only Buffy there.

"Guess Mom's not getting up again?" Dawn checked. Joyce hadn't gotten out of bed much in the last two days, but she never seemed to rise in the morning at all. If she ever did get up it was in the middle of the day or late at night and even then it wasn't for long.

"No…and well, Giles is already at the shop as usual," Buffy told her. In direct contrast, Giles had been spending all of his time out of the house. Spending almost every moment working at the Magic Box. But just like Joyce though, his conversation was minimal and even though he was working in the shop, he didn't ever seem to be actually there.

Buffy though was sort of relieved by his reaction in a way as after the news that…that…well, that they'd lost…the baby, Buffy had feared that Giles would go after Glory in full-on Ripper mode and she'd have to try and stop him. But instead he seemed to have just lost all energy to fight at all as though the life had been kicked out of him.

"Do you think she'll get up later?" Dawn asked, "Or tomorrow?"

"She'll get up when she's ready," Buffy replied honestly, before falling into silence as she thought over what they had found out at the hospital. Worry for the baby had been mainly due to the severe scrape across her Mom's stomach but the Doctor's had told her that while that had been damaging it wasn't the main cause- some strong impact on the abdomen had caused the miscarriage. They had all easily figured then that it had happened when Glory had slammed her into the wall.

"I just still can't believe it happened…I mean it was all happy…and then it's not…" Dawn said with a shake of the head as she pulled a plate of toast closer to her.

"I know…but it'll be okay again," Buffy assured her, smoothing her hair down calmingly, "I hope…I don't know how exactly but it will…"

"How do you know it'll get better though?" Dawn asked earnestly.

"Because it has to"

_Mmm what to say, mmm that you only meant well? Well of course you did mmm what to say…_

_"_Maybe we should go over there…help out?" Willow suggested as she and Tara sat on the bed in their dorm, "Like with cleaning and stuff?" Uncomfortable sitting, Willow stood up and started to pace a little, "People always want help…cleaning…"

"Will, baby," Tara stood up beside her and put her hands on her shoulders lovingly, calming her down, "There's nothing…we can't do anything…they have to get through this themselves…it's gonna be hard and painful, but we have to let them."

"I know," Willow nodded, close to tears, "It's just…" She added in a voice so quiet Tara had to strain to hear, "I wanna help…."

"I know, sweetie, I know," Tara nodded, kissing her.

_Sinking, Feeling _

She was losing track of time, just lay there on her side, on the bed, on top of the covers. She'd gotten dressed each morning, fully intended to walk out of her room and head back into the world. But each morning she just couldn't face going past her bedroom door so she climbed back onto the bed, on top of the covers and lay there. She kept falling in and out of sleep, barely registered where the sleep ended and where it began.

At one point, several times, Giles had got onto the bed with her. Just lay on his side beside her and put his arm over and around her, careful not to knock her right wrist, which was in a cast, and lay there with her for hours as well. She enjoyed those moments, though she seemed to barely register his being there. She did register the comfort it brought though. It was the only comfort she'd felt at all recently.

Another time Dawn had walked in, sat with her for a while, attempted some conversation, which Joyce had replied to. Dawn was only fourteen though and so found it hard to figure out how to deal with the entire thing and she never stayed longer than a quarter of an hour.

The rest of the times it was Buffy that walked in. Buffy didn't try for conversation, but she did sit up beside her while Joyce still lay down, in the same way Dawn had sat beside her.

"Don't you have classes, Buffy?" Joyce managed to ask, worried that her daughter was missing too much of college.

"No, I'm good today, don't worry," Buffy replied, pushing the piece of hair that had fell over her Mom's face behind her ear. After that one movement, Buffy seemed to fall into a repetition of it, none of them really paying attention to the reversal of roles, as Buffy stroked Joyce's hair down smooth, pushing it behind her ear and away from her face.  
_Hold their heads heavy. _


	24. Tough Love

Abryxis- Mwa haha. Yes my evilness grows. I think for that chapter I channelled Joss' evilness. Haha. Thanks for the review.

G120- Thanks for review and although I know the storyline was vair sad, I am tres glad you didn't see it coming. Thanks a lot for the well-written emotions and character responses.

Zigpal- Thanks for review and I know it's sad, but like you said, it fit in with the style and theme of the season. A hard year and all that. And well… you will just have to see on both the new baby front and on the darkest before the dawn sitch. Hehe. Also, lest we forget, thank you for claps.

Rabidreject- _Almost_ made you cry? Dammit! So close! Hehe. And yes, Spike did a good deed for Joyce. Thought it made sense since he claimed she was the only one of the group he could half-stand.

* * *

A/N: Okay, the screen on my laptop broke. Does technology hate me? Anyway, should have a new laptop soon, curtesy of the High School where my Mom works, teehee, but until then I'm updating at the library so the updates might be a bit all over the place. But like I said, it should be resolved soon.

* * *

"Is Mom mad at me?" Dawn asked suddenly as she and Buffy sat together on the sofa only partially paying attention to the low rate film flickering on the television. 

"What?" Buffy asked immediately, "No, why on earth would you think that?"

"Because she hardly spends more than minute alone in a room with me…and even then she barely looks at me, before she's gone again"

"Dawn," Buffy began, sitting up so she could talk to her sister properly, "After…after what happened last week…Mom and Giles just…they need to spend a lot of time together, but she is _not_ avoiding you"

Dawn still looked unsure and she wriggled uncomfortably in her seat.

"I think that…maybe she blames me-"

"Blames you?" Buffy asked incredulously, interrupting Dawn, "Why would she blame-"

"Because I'm the reason Glory took her," Dawn explained, "She thought the baby was the key…and if she hadn't been looking for me she wouldn't have took Mom…and Mom and Giles wouldn't have lost the baby"

This confession spoken aloud, Dawn felt she couldn't look Buffy in the eye, afraid that she was going to confirm these suspicions and fears.

"Dawn that is so far out there that-" Buffy paused, frowning at her sister. "You haven't been doin' a bunch of drugs at school have ya?"

"No," Dawn replied, smiling in spit of herself, "Cigarettes don't count do they?"

Buffy's eyes widened in shock and she was about to call for their Mom when Dawn stopped her just in time.

"No! It was a funny!" She insisted and Buffy seemed to relent, "Honest"

"Fine," Buffy accepted, trying to look at her sister with disapproval but there was too big a smile playing at her lips for it to be effective, "So, speaking of, how is school? No zombie people? No Sunnydale High-esque beasties?"

"No," Dawn shook her head, "And no _normal_ problems either,"

"Oh," Buffy said simply, worrying to herself that she had become as Hellmouth orientated as Giles, "I was gonna ask about those"

After that, Buffy's attention was drawn back to the television by an amusing commercial and Dawn was relieved by this as it meant her sister couldn't see the look of guilt on her face. Because the truth was, although she had said school was fine, she hadn't been there at all in a week- her Mom or Giles dropped her off outside the school grounds and once they drove off she headed in the opposite direction.

* * *

Giles debated whether to answer the phone or not. He was just about to set out for the Magic Box when it began to ring. To answer or not to answer, that was indeed the question. He could just go now, leave it ringing. He was practically out the door anyway- it was just the same as if he hadn't been here to answer it. 

"Can somebody get that?" Joyce called down from her bedroom and Giles cursed under his breath, before heading over to the offending phone.

"Hello? Oh Mrs Stevens, hello," Giles greeted Dawn's Principal over the phone. Sudden thoughts of Glory-related incidents that could have happened popped into his mind, "Is Dawn okay? Nothing has- pardon? What do you mean by 'you wouldn't know'?"

* * *

Joyce hadn't quite finished getting ready when the phone began ringing. She was running late for the gallery as it was. It was actually going to be her first day back in a week…and it looked like she was going to be late anyway as the small-sized cast on her wrist was causing her to take longer getting ready. Also she had to take extra time covering up the just-starting-to-heal bruises on her face. 

"Joyce!" She heard Giles call up the stairs after answering the phone and after putting in her silver earrings one-handedly she headed out of her room to see what he was calling her for.

"What is it?" She asked as she walked down the stairs toward him.

"That was Dawn's principal on the phone," he informed her.

"Is she okay? Glory hasn't-" She began with question similar to the ones Giles had initially asked, but he stopped her mid-question with a calm raise of the hand.

"Don't worry, she's perfectly fine except for-"

"Except for what?" Joyce interrupted in worry.

"Except for the fact she's been missing school," He finished.

"What? Again?" Joyce thought Dawn had gotten over this type of behavior after she had first found out she was the key. "Missing school? As in she hasn't been to any of her classes?"

Giles nodded.

"Mrs Stevens with one of us, today actually and uh, well, I believe her words were 'preferably as soon as possible'"

Joyce sighed as she walked down the final few steps of the stairs.

"Guess I'm not making it to the gallery today either," She concluded.

"Well, I, uh, I could go if you wish," Giles suggested, but Joyce shook her head.

"No…I mean you are going, but I am as well," Joyce replied and Giles frowned wondering why the two of them were needed for the task, "Dawn is obviously playing up," Joyce continued, "and to perfectly honest I just can't deal with that right now. So my plan involves a 'double whammy'" She smiled weakly.

"'Double whammy'?" Giles repeated, but Joyce was already leading him out the door.

"I'll explain on the way," She told him.

* * *

"Dawn, how could you do this?" Joyce spoke directly to her daughter in the Principal's office, "Just miss school like this? What were you thinking?" 

Before Dawn could attempt to answer any of these questions, Giles was on her case as well.

"And what of these stories from school that you were telling to Buffy?" He asked, "You were lying the entire time…"

"No," Dawn immediately protested, "Those things did happen at school- my friends said…I just wasn't there to see them"

"Dawn, I-" Joyce began, before breaking off to look at Principal Stevens, "Mrs Stevens I am so sorry about all this, I am appalled at how-" She broke off again, this time turning back to Dawn, "Dawn, why would you do something like this? You know how important it is for you to be in school right now"

Dawn heard the hidden message of 'so we know where you are, but Glory doesn't' in her Mom's words.

"Dawn," Stevens suddenly said, "Perhaps you should wait outside a moment?" Dawn reluctantly started to get up, "Mr Giles, would you like to wait with her? I just need to talk to your wife a moment"

Joyce and Giles shared a look, before he left, leading Dawn out the room and closing the door quietly behind them.

Once the door clicked shut Mrs Stevens turned to look at Joyce with a very sympathetic expression and Joyce had a bade feeling she knew what the woman was going to say.

"Mrs Giles, your marriage to your husband is fairly recent isn't it?"

"Yes…one month ago actually," Joyce replied and Mrs Stevens nodded, taking in the information.

"Mm-hmm…and everything is okay at home? No…problems?"

"What? No, why, what-"

"I just…" Mrs Stevens closed her eyes as if for split-second meditation in an attempt to bring some calm and ease to the situation, "I'm concerned that Dawn's recent change in behavior may have something to do with her situation at home"

"What exactly are you implying?" Joyce asked directly with an even tone. In fact, she knew exactly what the woman was implying, but she still wished for her to say it outright.

"Mrs Giles, I can't help taking note of the bruising on your face and the cast on your wrist and whether it is occurrences like these that are prompting Dawn's obvious cries for attention"

"Mrs Stevens. Rupert has never laid a finger on me or either of my daughters and where I attained these injuries is, frankly, none of your concern"

"Actually, it is," Stevens countered, a little reluctantly, "If myself or any other members of staff believe Dawn's home dynamic to be…'less than comfortable' wee will have to call Social Services,"

"What? You can't do that," Joyce immediately protested, "You don't have the right"

"Yes, we do," Mrs Stevens informed her, "We have the right to do whatever we believe is in Dawn's best interests, but I would truly hate to resort to such drastic measures"

But she would if things didn't improve with Dawn. She didn't say that, but the unspoken words were there, hanging in the air between them.

* * *

"Dawn! Don't you dare walk off on me!" Joyce exclaimed as she stormed in the Magic Box after her daughter and the sound of her raised voice caused Anya, Buffy, Willow and Xander, who were sat at the round table as always, to look up. 

A split second later, Giles walked in after them, but at a much calmer pace and rather than looking angry like Joyce did, he instead look exhausted. All the way to the store they had been talking to Dawn about the way she had been acting, but it soon developed into just a conversation between Joyce and Dawn which had then escalated into an argument, which, when they had arrived at the Magic Box had culminated in Dawn walking off.

"Why not?" Dawn challenged, spinning around to look at her Mother, "It's all you ever do to me lately!"

"What?" Joyce's confusion caused her to stop shouting.

"What's going on?" Willow asked Giles as he walked over to the group.

"Dawn's been skipping school again," He explained.

"What?" Buffy yelped.

"Please, don't start," Giles, begged as he pointed to where Joyce and Dawn were arguing, "_That _started off as a quiet talk…her sister 'talking' to her as well may have quite the opposite of the desired effect and land us all in quite a cataclysmic state of affairs"

That said, the group couldn't help returning their attention to the arguing Mother and daughter.

"You're never around," Dawn explained in response to Joyce's simple question of 'what?', "You spend time with everyone else…. but me you can barely look at"

"Dawn," Seeing her daughter's distress, Joyce was no longer shouting, "How can you think that? I haven't-"

"Yes you have," Dawn insisted, "Y-you blame me. For what happened. If Glory wasn't trying to find _me_ she wouldn't have-" Dawn, so very close to tears and unable to say much more, ran past her Mom and out the door.

"Dawn!" Joyce called pleadingly, before running out after her daughter.

"Whoa," Xander summed up the situation in one word.

"Yeah, 'whoa'" Willow agreed/

"I had no idea she felt that way," Giles confessed and all but Buffy nodded their heads in agreement.

* * *

"Dawn, please stop," Joyce called as she came out of the store and Dawn stopped walking. Whether this was voluntary or just an instinctive reaction Joyce didn't know or care, just as long as she could talk to her. 

"Don't say you haven't been avoiding me…not looking at me," Dawn said before Joyce could get a word in edge-wise.

"Okay," Joyce agreed, "I have…but it's not for the reasons you think Dawn"

"Isn't it?" Dawn asked, sounding incredibly uncertain.

"No, of course not," Joyce said as she walked over to her. She couldn't believe Dawn would even think that- how on earth could she blame her? She was just a fourteen-year-old girl. "That…last week was the first time I ever actually came across Glory. I knew…I'd read of what her abilities are…what she can do, but to experience it first hand is something entirely different. She terrified me Dawn," Dawn remained silent, "and what terrifies me more is that she wants to get to you. After meeting Glory, looking at you reminded me of that fact- that she wants to hurt you. Badly. And I couldn't- I _can't_ bear the thought of her trying to hurt my baby girl"

"Mom…" Dawn started to cry with her Mom as the two of them hugged, but they managed to keep it together. Barely.

* * *

"Poor Dawnie, " Tara sympathized after Willow told her the story of what had happened earlier on at the Magic Box. 

"I know," Willow agreed, "I think the whole family are feeling pretty much of the sad, the bad and the ugly lately"

"It's understandable," Tara said, "I mean after a loss like that it would be pretty hard to carry on as normal"

"Yeah…I just wish I could help…" Willow said contemplatively, before her expression brightened as an idea formed in her mind, "I could do a spell"

"A spell?"

"Yeah," Willow nodded, "like an advanced healing spell….to help them all overcome it and move on"

"Can you do that?" Tar asked, when what she really meant was '_should_ you do that'. The healing process was something vitally important to the person and to have magick tamper with it could have serious consequences.

"Yeah, it'll be easy," Willow assured her girlfriend, but she didn't get the response she expected as Tara just looked extremely worried, "What's, what's the matter?"

"It's just these spells you're casting Will…you're becoming so powerful…"

"You say that like it's a bad thing…" Willow looked at Tara, trying to read her expression.

"No, it's not…" Tara told her, "It's just sometimes…it frightens me how powerful you're getting"

"That's a weird word to use,"

"Getting?" Tara asked with a nervous smile.

"It frightens you?" Willow asked. Not letting Tara get away with her choice of words, "_I _frighten you?"

"No, I didn't mean frighten," Tara immediately told her, standing up, "I meant impress, it I-impresses me"

"Tara, I took Psych 101. I mean sure I was taught by a crazy government scientist who was skewered by her Frankenstein like creation, but I know what Freudian Slip is. Don't you trust me?"

* * *

"And then it just blew up into this big argument," Willow explained dejectedly in the Magic Box as she sat near where Joyce and Giles were stood. Buffy was in class at college, Anya was serving customers and Xander was at the table attempting to help Dawn with her homework, but was slowly realizing that with age wisdom did not always come. 

"You two don't argue often do you?" Giles asked, but it sounded more like a statement than a question.

"Never," Willow replied, "Until now…"

"Yes, well, ah, at least it's over now," Giles comforted her, but Willow looked anything but comforted by this statement.

"Over? How can it be over? I just found her"

"He means the argument sweetie," Joyce calmed her and Willow nodded, relaxing a little.

"Oh"

"Every couple goes through their first argument Willow," Joyce assured her, "But they get through it and become stronger for it"

"You're sure?" Willow asked, lower lip quivering at the thought that things might be over with Tara.

"I'm positive," Joyce smiled, giving Willow a little hug.

"What was your first argument?" Willow asked, finding herself wishing to compare as a way to make sure things would work out with Tara,.

"Pardon?"

"You and Giles," Willow elaborated, "What was your first argument?"

Joyce and Giles looked across the room at each other, both of them silently going over what their first argument was, before both silently agreeing to tell Willow.

"It was at Buffy's 18th," Joyce explained, "Over the Cruciamentum"

"Oh," Willow said for lack of anything else to say, "That's kinda a lot bigger,"

"Yes, yes it was," Giles agreed as he went to open the cupboard door, thinking of how betrayed Joyce had felt by the Council tradition that had been enforced upon Buffy, "B-but we came out fine didn't we Willow?"

"Yes, marriage does-" Willow began but she was cut off by Giles banging the cupboard door on the head of one of Glory's minions who had been listening in to their conversation.

"Oh my god…is that…?" Joyce said, spotting the demon.

"One of the hobbits with leprosy?" Xander filled in, already getting Dawn up and towards the front door, away from the demon.

"Dawn, uh-" Joyce debated whether to go take Dawn away herself or to send Xander with her daughter while she stayed behind making sure the demon and by extension Glory didn't know where she was. She decided on the latter, "Xander, take Dawn to Spike's. He can, he can make sure she's safe"

"Mom-" Dawn began to protest, but her Mom shook her head, causing her to stop.

"Spike?" Xander asked, sounding sceptical, "Are you sure-"

"You can trust Spike," Joyce said earnestly and Xander reminded of the vampire's kind actions of the previous week, nodded.

"Okay, I'll be back soon," He told them all, sparing one moment to glance at Giles who was dragging the demon to a chair, before taking Dawn out of the store and Joyce was able to turn her attention to what was going on with the demon.

"How helpful?" Giles was saying and although he was doing the innocent action of merely cleaning his glasses, Joyce saw exteme menace in the movement and she saw Anya and Willow were watching him with a wary eye from where they were stood at the counter. Joyce herself had gotten over her fear of any aspect of the Ripper persona a long time ago, but she knew the kids hadn't so much. "What a wonderful oppurtunity for us to talk," Giles carried on and the demon made an attempt to hide his fear.

"I will not betray Glorificus." Slook proclaimed, "I will never talk, no matter what heinous torture-"  
"Actually, you're talking quite a lot," Giles interupted in that same menacingly calm tone, "just not about the right things. Tell us why you're here."  
"No words shall pass my lips that will bring peril to Glorificus." Slook said dramatically, but Giles wasn't the least bit affected. Without taking his eyes off the demon he pointed to the counter

"Girls," He asked, talking to Anya and Willow, "Get that twine that's on the counter, let's tie him up"

Willow and Anya turned away as did Joyce, to find the twine Giles was pointing out. They vaguely heard some rustling from where Giles and the demon were and a moment later Slook cried out, stopping them in their twine finding task.

"No, no! I'll tell you! Anything! Please! Whatever you want! Just, I'll, anything!"

"What happened?" Anya asked in amazement.

"He changed his mind," Giles said simply and would explain no further than that.

"I'm... I'm supposed to watch," Slook began to explain, "We're watching the Slayer's people ... while Glory fetches the key."

Everyone was immediately alarm and Joyce looked to Giles in panic.

"Glory knows who the key is?" Willow asked, not believing the God could have figured it out.  
"Oh god..." Giles breathed, all traces of Ripper suddenly swept away by this revelation.  
"We have to call Buffy," Anya announced and Joyce nodded in agreement, though she seemed too stunned to take any action herself.  
"Too late. Too late." Slook told them gleefully, "Glorificus will find the witch, and there's nothing you can do to stop her."  
"Witch?" Anya asked in confusion at the same time as Joyce, "What do you mean?"  
It was Willow that clicked first.

"Tara!" She gasped in horror before running out of the store

* * *

"I have to warn the mice," Tara informed Joyce matter of factly, before turning to inform someone else in the room of the same thing. 

Giles was inspecting the X-rays on the wall, until he couldn't look any longer and he turned away, shaking his head sadly.

"Are you okay?" Joyce asked Willow quietly in a voice that automatically made Willow give an honest answer.

"No," She shook her head as she clasped Tara's non-injured hand tightly, "I just...how could this happen to her? It shouldn't have- I should have been there to keep her safe"

"Willow, it's not your fault," Buffy insisted earnestly, "You couldn't have known what would happen"

Willow didn't say anything in reply, but just turned to gaze at Tara. Buffy turned around to look at everyone else in the room and saw they were all just as badly effected by what had happened and that they were instantly looking for support in one another. Anya was hugging Xander so tightly that it seemed he was struggling for oxygen slightly, but despite that he was still hugging his girlfriend back. Buffy looked to see her Mom was leaning into Giles and the two were stood together in a way that was reminiscent of the (first) band candy incident. Buffy really wished she had the ability to forget that night.

Looking around at all the couples though, Buffy wished she also had someone she could lean into and look to for support, but found herself, as usual, alone.

"Right," A Doctor broke Buffy's reverie as he walked back into the room, clipboard in hand, "Well, her hand, although severely damaged obviously, should heal just fine, but the cast will have to stay on for a while"

"Of course," Willow nodded with eager understanding, just wanting to take Tara home, subconciously holding Tara's hand tighter.

"But we'll have to keep in for observation," The doctor continued.

"What?" Willow asked, not so much not-believing as not-liking the Doctor's words.

"Just overnight, for observation," The doctor assured her, but this didn't bring any comfort to Willow.

Unable to continue to watch the distress this was causing to Willow., Joyce instead focused her attention on the X-rays, although this was not much better. It was just another painful reminder of what Glory had done. Joyce attention was only draw away from the glowing images when she heard Tara being wheeled out by the nurses.

"Tara, baby!" Willow pleaded, trying to hold onto Tara's outstretched hand as Tara was wheeled away by the nurses out of Willow's sight. Willow went to run after her, follow her out into the hall, but she felt Joyce and Buffy holding her back.

"Willow, it'll be okay, they'll look after her," Joyce assured her and Will nodded distratedly, as though she were only barely taking in Joyce's words.

"It's just one night," Buffy addded, "We can pick her up first thing in the morning- there's nothing you can do now"

"Yes there is," Willow stated determinedly with a look of resolve before she stalked out of the room. Buffy, realizing what her best friend intended to do, was hot on her heels.

"This is bad," Xander concluded, shaking his head in disgust, "Poor Willow"

"Poor Tara," Joyce added, sounding very upset and Giles automatically pulled her into a hug. As he did so he looked intently at Joyce- who was at present talking to Anya and Xander- as he thought over the previous week when she had been taken by Glory. What had happened then had been a tragedy itself, but Giles now couldn't stop thinking that what had happened to Tara could have happened to Joyce. How she had been when the monks' spell had effected her- the mad words she had rambled constantly- had been bad enough. Be grateful for small mercies didn't quite cover it. He held onto Joyce tighter which caused her to look at him with a small smile.

"Well, Willow's gone back to her dorm...cool down, clear her head, that sort of thing," Buffy announced when she came back into the roo, "I'd better go pick up Dawn from Spike's.

* * *

"Willow how could you _think_ to go after Glory like that?" Joyce reprimanded as she, Buffy and Dawn brought Tara back to the dorm she shared with Willow.

"Because..." Willow sighed patiently. Joyce acted more like her Mom than Sheila Rosenberg did a lot of the time and sometimes it was really nice. Other times, such as now, it was _really_ aggravating. "You know why," Willow finally decided to say in reply as she made sure Tara was sat down comfortably.

"But she could have hurt you so much," Joyce insisted, "And you wouldn't have been able to lookm after Tara, you wouldn't have been able to be there for her because you'd be dead"

Silence flooded the room as this message hit everyone, most of all Willow who had never considered that aspect before.

"I'm sorry," Joyce said, closing her eyes for a second of calm, "It's just i hate this...I hate it all. I just don't want any of you getting hurt"

"I know Mom," Buffy said with a sympathetic expression and Joyce smiled appreciatively, "And don't worry. from now on we'll be extra, extra careful"

"Good to know," Joyce smiled as she hugged Dawn as if for reassurance. The whole group knew that the promise Buffy had made couldn't definitely be kept, but for now, they were willing to play along.

Suddenly, breaking the moment, the entire wall of Tar and Willow's dorm was ripped off, the sunlight pouring in and blinding them. When they finally got their bearings and their temporairly blinded sight cleared they saw Glory standing there not looking the least bit effected by her refurbishment of the dorm.

"I told you this wasn't over," She said, looking directly at Buffy and Willow.

"Oh look!" Tara exclaimed suddenly, looking up at Dawn with a giddy smile, "Oh pretty! Such pure green energy!"

Joyce, Buffy, Dawn and Willow all exchanged an expression of panic before looking at Glory to see the God was grinning a pleased smile at Dawn. She had found her key.


	25. Spiral

zigpal- thanks for claps and review and I'm glad you liked the Dawn/Joyce scene. The knights of hack and slash are gone? They're still hackin and slashin- I didn't write them out...did I? I think they've just been laying in wait, is all. hehe.

rabidreject- hey, thanks for review, and yes, even though I don't think Giles will ever like Spike haha, he is going to be more tolerant of him now after the whole Joyce and Glory sitch. I hated the whole anti-Spike thing too (I thought he was such a sweety...most of the time..haha)

* * *

**A/N: Oh my god, my updates have never been so late. I am so sorry, but like I said a couple of updates ago, my laptop went kablooy on me so I'm having to write these chapters at the library which is no easy task when the librarians are constantly breathing down your neck allowing no more than an hour and a half on the computer a day. My updates have taken even longer this time though due to the fact of several family parties, including one of those damn meet-the-in-laws things in preparation of my Dad's wedding (argh doesn't quite cover it) and also...well, the Harry Potter book was released at midnight on Saturday and I spent the majority of the weekend reading it. It was very good by the way, although I saw many Buffyesque moments in it. Dumbledore's past reminding me slightly of Giles, the theme of Death is your Gift and Molly Weasley had the censor free version of Joyce's 'Get the hell away from my daughter'.**

**Anyway, on with the update.**

* * *

"Such pure green energy!" Tara exclaimed, looking at Dawn with a giddy smile. Joyce, Buffy, Dawn and Willow all exchanged expressions of pure panic before looking at Glory to see the god was grinning a pleased smile at Dawn. She had found her key. 

Instantly, without a moments thought Buffy stood up, grabbed Dawn by the hand and the two of them ran straight through the door, crashing onto the floor of the dorm hallway amongst pieces of splintered wood. Within seconds they were up again and running off down the hallway.

Glory laughed and went to chase after them, but Willow held up a hand and Glory was stuck- unable to move from where she was. Joyce looked at Willow in surprise, but was even more taken aback when she saw how black Willow's eyes had become as she cast the binding spell. A few more words of latin on Willow's part amd Glory went flying backwards, far, far away from the building amd Will's eyes returned to normal.

"Willow, are you okay?" Joyce asked, extremely concerned by the change that had just come over the girl.

"I'm fine," Willow said simply, already standing up, "We need to go"

"What about Buffy? And Dawn?" Joyce was understandably worried about her daughters but Willow didn't have time for it.

"No," She said firmly, the powerful Magicks coming out in her voice and Joyce immediately stopped going to go after her daughters, "We'll meet them at Xander's," Willow continued, her voice back to normal, "We said we'd all meet back there anyway. She'll be there"

Joyce nodded, silently accepting that what the twenty-year-old was saying was right.

"Okay," She agreed, climbing through the tattered door frame, before looking back at Willow and Tara, "Come on. We need to get Tara to my car again"

At this statement Joyce and Willow shared a tired look- on the way to UC Sunnydale, Tara _really_ hadn't been fond of Joyce's jeep cherokee and had loudly verbalized this fact all the way there through the medium of metaphoric ramblings.

* * *

"A-and then whoosh! All of a sudden Glory's standing right there in front of us," Dawn was telling everyone the story at Xander's appartment- which despite him having lived there for over a year Dawn still had to check herself not to say 'Giles' place'. As Dawn told the story everyone was listening to her eagerly except for Buffy who was instead looking out the window. Her Mom was listening with rapt attention like the others, but wouldn't let go of Dawn and seemed to be keeping her in a permenant side hug. "Mom? I really can't tell the story while you're latching onto me like a limpet. 

"Oh. Right," Joyce said in realization, "Sprry," She apologized and went to stand beside Giles, leaving Dawn to her spotlight.

"So anyway," Dawn continued, "Glory's stood there all skanky and blond and thinking she's all that just coz some bumpy heads kiss her stinky feet...she does have nice feet...A-and she's coming right at us and Buffy's just standing there not even blinking like "bring it on" and then wham!" Dawn smacked one fist into her other hand to emphasize her point and it caused nearly everyone in the room to blink in surprise, "hell bitch in orbit"

"Go Buff!" Xander exclaimed.

"Buffy- that's wonderful!" Joyce agreed, extremely glad that Glory was finished with.

"I knew you'd best Glory eventually," Giles added eagerly, "I mean all- all our years of training-"

"A truck hit her," Buffy interrupted him, not even looking away from the window as she said it.

"Oh"

"You threw it at her?" Anya asked with not very contagious enthusiasm.

"Well, no," Dawn answered, "She more kind of waited for it to hit Glory. Uh, but then Buffy ran really fast and we got away"

"Oh thank god," Joyce said, putting a hand to her chest in relief, "Thank god you're both okay"

"Yes," Giles nodded in agreement, "It doesn't matter how it happened, the important thing is you're both safe"

"Safe?" Buffy asked, finally turning away from the window to look at Giles, "We've barely been able to manage not getting seriously dead everytime we've crossed paths with Glory. And now that she knows Dawn is the key?"

"Buffy, you-" Joyce began but Buffy cut her off.

"No, Mom. You don't get it. You've _never_ got it! This is dangerous. Seriously! People may die, _I _might die fighting Glory coz right now I sure as hell can't see me winning. I am _never_ gonna have the long life with college grades not matter how much you wish it Mom! And this is _not_ gonna be solved by calm words, parenting tapes and chicken and stars!"

The whole group fell silent at Buffy's words, looking chastised.

"There must be something in _The Book of Tarnis_ that we've missed," Giles suggested, "Something we can use against Glory"

"Piano!" Anya suddenly exclaimed and everyone looked at her with a frown.

"Because that's what we used to kill that big demon that one time," Xander agreed readily, before frowing in puzzlement at his girlfriend, "No, wait, that was a rocket launcher. Ahn, what are you talking about?"

"You used a rocket laucher?" Joyce asked Giles and Buffy, but they just gave her a look instead of a reply, "Right wrong time, wrong place," She agreed and returned her attention back to the conversation at hand.

"Perhaps we should reassemble at the magic shop," Giles suggested, "See if there's anything-"

"We can't fight her," Buffy cut him off.

"Well, no," Giles agreed with a look of surprise, "Not yet, but-"

"Not ever," Buffy interrupted him firmly again, "She's too strong Giles. We're not gonna win this with stakes, or spells or pulling out some uranium power core. She's a God and she's coming for us so let's just not be here when she comes knocking"

"Run away?" Anya asked and while everyone else looked distinctively less-than-keen on the idea, Anya smiled, "Finally, a sensible plan"

"That's not what she meant," Xander inistsed before looking at Buffy, "Is it?"

Again, Buffy was silent in response.

"Buffy, we can't just drop everything and run away," Joyce protested.

"We can't stay here!" Buffy countered, "She'll just kill us off one by one until there's no one standing between her and Dawn"

"But our homes," Joyce protested again, "I have a business to run- I can't just up and leave. And what about your college? Dawn's school?"

"Stay and you die," Buffy told her harshly, "hands up for that option," Everyone was silent and no one moved a muscle, "Thought not. All right, nobody goes home. Nobody tells anybody we're leaving," Buffy aimed the last comment specifically at her Mother as she knew she was considering telling Carole arrangements for looking after the gallery while she was gone.

"Cool," Dawn stated quietly, "Don't have to study for that geometry test"

"What about wheels?" Xander asked, "I don't think everyone's gonna fit in the Xandermobile and even Joyce's car is gonna be a stretch"

"Just get you stuff together," Buffy told him, "I'll handle the rest"

* * *

Later on, all the group except for Buffy were waiting outside, sat on a bench in the hot midday sun with their scarcely packed bags scattered around them. 

"I'm still not sure about this," Joyce confessed as she paced anxiously.

"None of us do," Anya told her, "We _all _feel like we're walking into a deathtrap and we haven't even started moving yet"

"Anya," Xander reprimanded and his girlfriend shrugged and gave him a look that said, "What'd I do?"

"I'm just saying," Anya continued regardlessly, "That Joyce isn't the only one feeling that cold draft of paralyzing fear.

"Oh it's not paralyzing for me," Willow protested, "Just erm...slightly numbing..."

"Either way it says we're screwed," Anya concluded.

"Look, everything will be all right," Giles said in an attempt to calm them all down, "We just need to stay here calmly. As soon as Buffy arrives..." He trailed off as he saw a large Winnebago driving towards them, looking incredibly unstable as it did so and it screeched to a halt in front of them, "we'll feel oddly worse" Giles finished his sentence as he looked at the Winnebago with an expression of pure loathing. From the silence that met his comment, he guessed the rest of the group felt the same way. Reluctantly they all picked up their suitcases and got in the vehicle.

Walking in, Giles saw there was a small kitchen area with a sink, a table which Buffy was sat at studying maps made up a living room, but the thing that didn't got with the rest of the mise-en-scene in Giles' opinion was Spike at the wheel. Since Spike had helped save Joyce from Glory, Giles had become a lot more tolerant towards the vampire, but _this_ was pushing it.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just out for a jaunt," Spike replied, turning around to reveal he wearing thick black goggles to protect his eyes from the sun, "Thought I'd swing by and say howdy"

"He's driving," Buffy explanation made a bit more sense, but only a bit.

"Driving? Not bloody likely, he'll kill us all," Giles instantly replied, "Spike, move" He gestured for Spike to get up out of the driving seat.

"Fine. You drive," Buffy agreed with Giles patiently, "But he's still coming with us. We need him"

Spike merely grinned when he saw everyone's displeased faces. Only Dawn and Joyce looked okay with the thought of him coming along and so he made a decision to take his seat beside them.

"See the cast's gone love," Spike pointed out, tapping Joyce's bandaged wrist.

"Yeah," Joyce agreed, "And the bruises,"

"A-are you okay?" Dawn asked Spike, referring to his own injuries he had recieved from Glory.

"Takes more than a hell bitch to shake me up pet," He grinned momentarily, but the smile faltered when the Winnebago jerked forward.

* * *

A few hours later and they were still hurtling along, though they had now left any signs of the city behind and all that stretched on either side of them was desert. Giles was still driving and while most were sat around the small square table, Buffy had moved to the back room for some quiet and Dawn was stretched out on the floor much to Joyce's chagrin., who claimed even though the kangerooing RV didn't have seat belts it was even less safe sitting on the floor. 

"Shouldn't someone be asking 'are we there yet?'?" Anya asked and Joyce just smiled patiently at her before looking at Xander in concern.

"Xander are you okay?" She asked, "You look...off for lack of a better word"

Xander didn't say a word in reply but merely groaned in discomfort.

"Oh he doesn't travel well," Anya explained, "He's like fine shrimp"

"It's how long we've been on here what's doing it," Spike pointed out before shouting to Giles, "Oi! Gramps! Step on it!"

"Hey," Joyce reprimanded Spike for the insuilt, wacking him on the arm lightly, before she got up and walked over to sit in the passenger seat beside her husband, "Hi, how's it going?"

"As much as I hate to agree with Spike on anything," He replied, "I have to say it isn't going fast"

"Would it make a difference?" Joyce asked, realizing the question came out more loaded than she intended it to.

"Are you okay?" Giles asked his own loaded question.

"I just want to go home," Joyce replied and then realizing how childish that sounded, quickly elaborated, "It's just...when I found out Buffy was the Slayer, my whole world came crashing down around me...I hated it all _so_ much... I still do. But...so Dawn- she was the one who was safe. Free of all this. Then I find out- I remember that I didn't even think that and now we're driving as fast as...this _thing_'ll allow from a hellgod that wants to rip her apart" Joyce's voice started to break, "I just don't think I can take it anymore"

Giles smiled across at her warmly and took one hand off the wheel to place it over hers supportively and she smiled back.

"It'll be okay," He assured her, but his smile faltered, "I'm not quite sure how but...we all do get through these things. Again...and again."

Joyce couldn't help laughing a little.

"Sunnydale was meant to be the nice, quiet town where Buffy and I could have a fresh start-" She faltered, realizing that she was remembering a non-dawn memory which brought her back to why they were here in the first place, "Guess some things just come full circle huh?"

"It is the natural order of things," Giles acknowledged.

"There's nothing natural about this," Joyce replied a split second before she had to rip her hand away from Giles' as an arrow shot between them, "That's not natural either"

Giles peered out the window and saw nothing, but reflected in the mirror was-

"A crusade?" Joyce asked incredulously, getting a glimpse of them in the mirror as well.

"Giles!" Buffy called, running out from the back room.

"I see them," Giles assured her, while thinking ' I may see, but stop? That's another thing entirely'.

"Arrows!" Xander exclaimed as even more shot through and Joyce instantly got up and ran over to Dawn.

"Bloody hell!" Spike yelled as a _wooden_ arrow came precariously close to his heart.

"Dawn, get down," Joyce told her and she helped her daughter crawl under the table, "Stay there until it's safe"

Joyce was about to get back up again when another deadly arrow shot past and Dawn yankled her Mom down with her,

"Maybe you should stay here until it's safe as well," Dawn suggested as Anya, Tara and Willow climbed under the table also.

"Don't hit the horsies!" Tara cried out and Willow hugged her to try and calm her down.

"How many horsies-uh, horses, are there?" Joyce asked the other under-the-table people.

"I don't know," Anya replied, "Enough to knock us on our asses though"

"Anya, does optimism escape you _completely_?" Willow asked in complete exasperation.

Then there was silence, no more arrows being shot, nothing.

"Did we shake 'em?" Xander asked and in reply a wicked-sharp sword pierced through the roof almost scraping his head and Xander tumbled away as the sword was pulled back out.

"Stay low!" Buffy ordered everyone as the sword pieced another area of the roof again, "Watch out for the-"

"Buffy!" Joyce exclaimed, seeing the sword about to pierce her daughter's head before Buffy dud. Before she could be impaled though, Spike reached out with both hands and grabbed the sword, bringing it to a halt mid plunge.

"Now might be a good time for something heroic," Spike advised as he continued to hold onto the sword and Buffy looked around the RV anxiously.

"Xander! Hatch!" She ordered and her friend helped boost her up through the hatch on the roof where she could fight the knight who owned the sword that was currently ripping Spike's hands to shreds. Once Buffy was through the hatch Spike couldn't hold on any longer and as the sword was ripped from his grip he cried out in a pain and collasped in a nearby seat.

Dawn went to climb out from under the table, but her Mother pushed her back.

"No, stay under here where it's safe,"

"But-" Dawn began to protest but Joyce talked over her.

"No buts," She told her, "I don't care how ridiculous you feel under there," She added knowing exactly what Dawn was thinking. After making sure she was going to stay under the table (with Anya willingly staying for company), Joyce got up to see to Spike who was presently trying to rip some rags for his wounds with his teeth.

"Come here," She told him, taking the rags from him and ripping them herself, "Thank you"

"For letting you rip 'em?" He asked, "not that big of a favor really, it was wrecking me teeth"

"For saving Buffy's life," She explained as she wrapped the makeshift bandages around his hand.

"I didn't really-"

"Yes, you did," Joyce insisted as she tied the second bandage tightly and Spike nodded in silent acceptance of the thanks.

Suddenly, destroying the oddly peaceful moment completely, a knight crashed through the window reaching out for Dawn. and Spike dived out of the way as the sun seared his skin. Anya climbed out frok under the table, grabbed her frying pan and promptly began hitting the knight on the head with it repeatedly until he was forced to retreat.

"Not a piano," Anya grinned at everybody, "but hey"

Then everything actually was quiet as though the frying-pan victim was the last attacker.

"Was that the last?" Joyce asked as she helped Dawn out from under the table, "Are they all gone?"

"Everyone all right?" Giles called back from where he was still steadily driving despite the commotion, "Joyce?"

"We're fine," Joyce replied, looking around at everyone, "Pretty much so anyway. Where's Buffy?"

Before anyone could answer, commotion struck again as Giles, in sudden panic as he saw a remaining knight on a horse and wielding a spear, suddenly turned the steering wheel and everyone jerked sidewards.

"Rupert!" Joyce called out as Giles was impaled with one of the knights' spears but as she ran toward him she was thrown over as the RV hurtled out of control, Giles no longer driving, and it careened off the dusty road and turned on it's side and toppled over, coming to a loud, crashing stop.

Screaming, everyone in the back landed on top of each other, crushing one another's limbs. Joyce was the first one to scrabbled up as she shoved Anya off of her and rushed over to where Giles had fell, the spear still panifully embedded in him.

"Oh god...Rupert..." Joyce had no clue what to do with would. All the first aid training in the world didn't prepare her for this, "Please be...you'll be okay"

"Is everyone all right?" Buffy asked, running onto the upturned Winnebago, which is when her eyes fell on her Watcher, "Oh god- Giles. Spike!"

"What?" Spike asked, tumbling over the pile of people who hadn't gotten up yet as he headed over to her, "Bloody hell," he commented, seeing Giles.

"I need you to hold him down," Buffy ordered, "I'm gonna pull the spear out,"

Spike nodded in acceptance and walked over to hold Giles down. Joyce immediately moved out of his way, eager for Giles to be seen to- made better, but she didn't got far away, finding herself needing to watch.

"One..." Buffy counted, "two...three!" She pulled the spear out in one strong movement and Giles cried out in pain, before seeming to lose consciousness.

* * *

As soon as the group reached the abandoned gas station, Spike kicked the door open and rushed in, smoking in a lethal way from the sun outside and the moment he fell into the shade of the building he threw off his blanket in relief. 

Next in were Buffy and Xander who were carrying the injured Giles.

"Spike," Buffy called and as Joyce watched anxiously, Spike helped Buffy and Xander lift Giles onto what was once a counter.

"Careful. Up" Xander said, barely hiding his grimace as he saw all the blood that poured out of Giles' wound.

"Oh god- he needs a doctor," Joyce said, walking over and finally seeing the wound herself, "We need to get him to a hospital"

"I know, I know" Buffy agreed,stress causing her to repeat her word as though saying it twice might make it happen.

"Dawn, I don't want you seeing this," Joyce ordered her youngest daughter away from the sight as she folded up her coat and put it under Giles' head as a makeshift pillow. Sadly,it seemed to do little good and for lack of anything else to do, Joyce held his hand tightly which, thankfully, he seemed to acknowledge.

"Come here, I can help," Willow assured her and started tending to Giles' wound using what little supplies and bandages they had on hand. He was sweaty and clearly struggling to breathe, but Willow tried to not let her worry show through.

"We-we-we'll rest here for a minute," Buffy said, "But then we have to keep moving"

"We _can't_ keep moving," Joyce told her, "He can barely stay conscious never mind 'keep moving'"

This gave Buffy pause as though up till now she had practically forgotten about Giles' injury.

"How is he?" She asked, rushing over.

"Willow's doing the best she can," Joyce told her as she brushed Giles' hair off his face, the action of a woman who had no idea what else to do.

"I think I slowed the bleeding..." Willow informed them just as Giles coughed blood out of his mouth and Joyce wiped it away with one of the (few) nearby clothes whilst trying to ignore the fact that coughing blood was a very bad sign.

"Buffy..." She said pleadingly and Buffy knew she was asking her to come up with a plan. One that would benefit Giles.

"I know... just give me a minute"

Buffy stood there trying to think, while Joyce and Willow tended to Giles, when a flaming arrow shot through one of the boarded up windows,zooming past and in between Buffy and Joyce.

"Dawn! Get down!" They both ordered in synchronization, the two of them both thinking the same thing for once as more and more flaming arrows shot through the abandoned building.

"Spike, also get down," Joyce added as an after thought, realizing fire and wood were two bads for a vampire.

"Gotcha," He agreed, grabbing Dawn and pulling her down with him behind a counter.

"We got company," Xander told them all as he looked out of one of the windows, "And they brought a crusade,"

Willow told Joyce to keep the pressure on Giles' wound as she ran to the corner to flip through one of her spellbooks. As she kept her hand on the wound and made sure he was okay, Joyce took time to look at everything that was going on around her. She saw Buffy and Spike (who had obviously stopped hiding behind the counter to help) shoving a large, broken coffee machine in front of the door in an attempt to keep most of the knights out.

Suddenly an axe broke through the wall right near Dawn's head and the girl screamed loudly.

"Dawn!" Joyce exclaimed,wanting to run over to help her, but was unable to leave Giles, "Buffy!"

Looking over at the sound of her name, Buffy quickly ran over to help her sister but was intercepted by another knight bursting in and knocking her to the ground with a single punch.

"Buffy!"Joyce yelled, unable to help her _other_ daughter either. She turned back to look at Dawn, "Dawn! Run!" She called her over and the teenager ran as fast as she could towards her Mom. As soon as she got there though another knight ran at them from another direction, swinging his sword. Joyce pushed Dawn out of harm's way quickly and ducked the sword herself. Relying on instincts and powered by the fact he was trying to hurt Dawn, she grabbed the arm that was wielding the sword and twisted. Thrown by this sudden and unexpected opposing force,the knight stumbled and Joyce used this moment to kick one of his legs out from under him, and, his balance lost, she shoved him over the nearby side. He toppled over and banged his head on the way down, rendering him unconscious and leaving Joyce holding the sword, thankfully at the non-pointy end. She promptly threw this at Buffy.

"Buffy! Catch!"

Buffy caught it in mid-air and cut through the knight she was fighting before kicking him outside.

"Ooh, shiny!" Buffy grinned approvingly at the sword.

That dealt with, Joyce resumed applying pressure to Giles' wound with one hand and helped Dawn up with the other.

"That was so cool," Dawn grinned.

"What?" Joyce asked, too distracted with dealing with Giles.

"That, with the fighty-swordy," Dawn explained.

"Well, I had to learn something from Rupert's goddamn pushing training sessions," Joyce pointed out reasonably, "I mean we don't spend all our time..." She trailed off, realizing what she was saying wasn't suitable for Dawn's ears, "Bible studying. For texts"

"Yeah, sure," Dawn sounded highly unconvinced, "Whatever. Just know that that was_ very _cool."

"Well, thank you," Joyce smiled,clearly very pleased by her daughter's opinion.

"_Enemies fly and fall!"_ Willow began to chant, "_Circling arms raise a wall_!" She raised her arms and a circle of bright light emitted from them before surrounding the entire building creating a barrier and a calming silence fell on them all as the attacks ceased.

"Will? How long will it hold?" Buffy asked.

"Half a day maybe," Willow replied as she looked outside, "Or till Heckle and Jeckle punch a hole through it"

"Okay," Buffy nodded,setting the sword aside, "Hey Mom, not that I'm not grateful, but where'd the sword come from?"

"She took it off him," Dawn explained, pointing at the unconscious knight.

"Cool," Buffy nodded, walking forward before pausing in thought at her Mom, "Wait, you did that?"

"Thanks,"Joyce said sarcastically, "It's nice that you're all so shocked"

"Sorry, it's just..." Buffy shook her head, realizing she was digressing, "Let's find out what these guys are up to. Spike"

Then she and Spike dragged the unconscious knight to the back room to be tied up ready for questioning when he awoke.

* * *

"He's awake," Spike announced a little while later and Buffy marched into the room, Spike following close behind. Dawn got up and followed them both. 

"Dawn..." Joyce called in protest but there was little effort in her voice. Figuring after everything that had happened in the past few hours was so traumatic that listening to Buffy ask the knight a few questions was hardly going to scar Dawn any further, Joyce returned her attention to the presently conscious Giles.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Never...better," He replied, not without some struggle.

"Thought so," She forced herself to smile but it didn't last very long.

"We've been...through...worse..." He assured her, coughing slightly and Joyce, so very close to tears,shook her head in argument.

"No...no we haven't," She held his hand tightly, "But we're..." She looked around at the room where Buffy was interrogating the knight with Dawn, Spike and Xander as audience, then to where Anya was sat looking helpless and finally to Willow who was,while holding Tara,flipping through her spellbook. Joyce looked back at Giles and resumed what she had been saying,"We're gonna fix it," Joyce assured him, her voice breaking completely in upset, "We will. We'll get you to a hospital and you'll be fine"

Giles managed a nod, but the look in his eyes showed her he wasn't so convinced. A moment later he seemed to drift out of consciousness.

"Time!"

Joyce jumped as she heard Tara suddenly begin to yell and turned around to see Willow trying to hold her down as Tara scratched at the covered windows.

"Time! Time! Time!"

"What happened?" Buffy asked, running into the room.

"I-I don't know," Anya replied, "She just went nuts"

"Time! Time!Time!"

"Tara!" Willow cried as she pulled her lover down by grabbing her around her torso and pinning her arms to her side. Tara gave up trying to crawl through the windows and instead sat there, hunched over slightly and whimpering. Willow looked over at Buffy pleadingly,"We have to do something Buffy. She can't stay this way"

At the sound of Buffy's name,Giles seemed to gain consciousness again.

"Buffy..." He rasped and she instantly headed over to him to see what he wanted while Joyce walked over to help Willow with Tara.

"Time...time..." Tara carried on murmuring, but stopped when she caught sight of the long silver pendent hanging from Joyce's neck. She gazed at it eagerly, the look in her eyes distinctly magpie like for a moment before it gained the giddily innocent look of a curiously amused child, "Ooh!" Tara giggled, reaching out for it, "Pretty. Shines...bright light gone? Shine-" She reached for it again, but Willow pushed her hand away from Joyce's necklace.

"No you can't have that"

"Oh!" Tara whimpered sadly and seemed to be bordering on hysterical again at Willow's reprimand and having been forbidden from the shiny object.

"No, it's okay," Joyce told them both and Tara seemed to calm down a little as Joyce took the necklace off, "She can have it...if it makes her happy"

"Are you sure?" Willow asked as Joyce handed Tara the pendent. Tara grasped it eagerly and smiled brightly as she looked it over, twirling it in between her fingers.

"I'm sure," Joyce assured her,"It's how I avoided Buffy's terrible twos" She smiled wistfully and Willow shared the same expression as she glanced at Tara lovingly.

"Thanks," She told Joyce gratefully.

"Willow," Buffy said and Willow looked up,"Open a door"

* * *

"All right, I think I've got him stabilized," Ben assured them all later on as he bandaged up Giles' wound, "But there's a lot of damage. We need to get him out of here" 

"We know," Joyce agreed, "But we're not really in a position to do that" She gestured to outside where they all knew the hundreds of armed knights were awaiting them.

"Yeah, I noticed," Ben agreed, "When you called, Buffy, you didn't exactly mention the costume party"

"Oh," Buffy said, clearly struggling for what to say in reply, "Yeah, well...you know..." She sighed in resignation, "I know this probably seems very _Outer Limits_ to you"

"This?" Ben asked, "Nah, I've seen things you wouldn't believe"

"Really?" Joyce asked, her tone slightly incredulous, "Would you like to trade stories and compare?"

Buffy threw her Mom a very pointed look before shoving her aside slightly in an attempt to shove her right out of the conversation.

"Sorry," Buffy apologized to Ben on Joyce's behalf, "Panic and worry makes my Mother use inappropriate sarcasm,"

"She was being sarcastic?" Ben asked sceptically.

"Yeah...well, like I said; panic- makes her all wacky" Buffy smiled nervously, inwardly relieved that her Mother was too busy paying attention to Giles to participate in the conversation, "Look, if this gets too weird, just tell me. I'll understand"

"Don't worry about me," Ben assured her, "I won't leave until I've outstayed my welcome"

* * *

"Are you okay?" Willow asked the question of the day as she walked over to where Joyce was sat near to Giles. Tara was sat in the opposite corner still, but was so engrossed in the wonder that was Joyce's necklace that Willow was able to leave her alone for a few minutes. 

"Officially yes," Joyce replied, "I'm keeping-it-together Mom; it's what Moms do best"

"Unofficially?" Willow prompted and Joyce sighed.

"Unofficially?I...I feel like I'm falling apart." She looked over at Giles who was, for the moment, unconscious again, "I'm so very far from okay it's unbelievable"

"He'll be fine you know?" Willow told her, "And I'm not just saying that to make you feel better. Giles is tough. Anyone who can get up again after two Slayers attempting to beat the crap out of him can survive-"

"A spear to the gut?" Joyce finished and Willow smiled weakly.

"Well...yeah..."

"Buffy and Dawn shouldn't have to deal with all this," Joyce said, apparently thinking aloud and Willow didn't know whether she was talking more to her or herself, "Neither should you or Xander or...any of you. You should be considering where to go for Summer vacation together, getting your dissertations in on time, not running from hellgods and crusades"

"Well...we take what we can get," Willow replied carefully, clearly thinking very deeply on her answer, "And what I think I have is great friends that I wouldn't have if we didn't have hellgods and crusades to fight"

"Well, aren't you the little optimist?" Joyce smiled and Willow grinned back.

"Always"

* * *

Dawn came out of the back room before Buffy did. She looked lost, hurt and confused as she walked over to her Mom and was extremely thankful when Joyce automatically pulled her into a warm hug. 

"What's the matter honey?" She asked, running her fingers soothingly through Dawn's long, brown hair.

"It's all my fault,"

"What?"

Dawn looked over at Giles, a look of dismay coming across her features as she took in the details of his bandaged injury.

"It's all my fault," She repeated, "None of this would have happened if it wasn't for me"

"Dawn, don't be silly. These things just happen," Joyce paused before added, "To _us_ anyway,"

Dawn didn't say anything in reply, but just watched Ben taking Giles' pulse.

"Is he gonna be alright?" She asked and Ben looked over at her, but didn't quite make eye contact.

"He was hurt pretty bad Dawn," He did look Joyce in the eye though, "But people have come through worse"

"Thank you...for doing this I mean," Joyce told him, "I think Buffy was underestimating when she said this situation was merely 'weird'"

"It's not a problem," Ben assured her,"It's my job" He looked intently at Joyce and Dawn, at the way they were sat hugging one another, and seemed to be weighing up the entire situation before he turned his attention back to Giles as he injected him with a substance that was unfamiliar to both Mother and daughter.

"Will that help?" Dawn asked,. Ben didn't reply, but instead turned away, bending over slightly and Joyce stood up in concern.

"Ben? Are you okay? Ben?"

"You have to let me out!" He screamed at them, slamming his hands to his forehead as though trying to knock something out of there.

"Ben?" Dawn sounded just as concerned as her Mom, but there was also fear in her voice at the way he was acting.

"You don't understand!" He exclaimed, "I gotta get out! Open a door now!"

Buffy and Spike, at the sound of his yelling, ran over to them.

"What happened?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know," Dawn replied, "He just freaked out"

Ben was absolutely frantic as he ran around the room desperately.

"Let me out!"

"Okay," Buffy agreed, "Will, open a door"

Before Willow could even begin the spell, Ben cried out in pain, putting his hands to his head in agony.

"No! Argh!"

Then Glory was standing there, stretching casually. Everyone stared on in horror while Glory merely looked around in surprise.

"You two again," Glory said, her eyes spotting Joyce and Spike stood together first. Then, realizing what them being there meant, she began to smile a smile that broadened when she caught sight of Buffy and, more importantly, Dawn.

"What what do you know?" She grinned, "Little Ben finally did something right"

"The beast,"Gregor, the knight who had been interrogated by Buffy, gasped in horror.

"Hey, it's Gregor," Glory picked up a hubcap that was hanging nearby and threw it powerfully at the Knight like a Frisbee. It embedded in his chest and he hung limply in his bonds. Dead. "Now it's not"

Spike suddenly rushed at Glory with a yell, Xander immediately following with just as much aggression. Glory hit Spike with the same effort as swatting away a fly and he went flying into Xander, the two of them crashing to the ground.

Buffy tried next, charging at the God, but Glory sent her barreling into Willow. Next she tossed Joyce aside easily and then no one was standing between her and Dawn. She laughed giddily as she took in the clear short path to her Key, before she grabbed the teen's hand. Anya tried to pull Dawn back but it was a waste of time as Glory pulled her away and ran out the door.

"Dawn!" Joyce cried out, getting up, but struggling as the impact of the fall hit her. Buffy had already run outside after her sister, but a second later she ran back in.

"Willow! Get it down now!"

Willow's eyes turned black as she began to chant and both Buffy and Joyce ran outside after Dawn...to find there was sign of her or Glory anywhere and dead knights lay scattered everywhere. It was a harrowing sight and it was only Joyce's focused worry about Dawn that prevented her from throwing up at the scene. Both Buffy and Joyce stopped running as they took in everything around them in shock.

"We have to-" Willow began, running outside with the others, but stopped when she saw the sight as well.

"The car," Spike stated, "Get the keys" He and Xander ran off.

"Buffy!" Willow called, "Buffy, we have to find Dawn. We, we can't let Glory-"

Buffy abruptly sat down on the ground, tears running down her face as she looked ahead with a blank stare, not seeing anything.

"Buffy," Joyce rushed over to her, "Buffy!" There was no reaction. She shook her a little, "Buffy! We need to save Dawn! Glory's...Buffy!"

"Oh my god," Willow looked into Buffy's eyes, "Her pupil's aren't responding at all...she's, she's like...catatonic." Willow couldn't believe what she was saying.

Joyce couldn't believe what she was hearing, what was happening.

Giles was inside with what was potentially a mortal wound, Dawn had been taken god knows where by Glory and Buffy was in a catatonic state. Her whole family had fallen apart in the space of five minutes. Unable to be 'keep-it-together-Mom' any longer,Joyce collapsed on the floor beside Buffy as well, barely sitting upright as she felt her own tears start to fall down her face.

"Oh no- don't- not you too," Willow pleaded and Joyce took her hand to let her know she wasn't in the same comatose state as Buffy. She was just distraught, lost beyond all measure.


	26. Weight of the World

Rabidreject- thanks very much for the review, I'm glad you liked that chapter and sorry I made you look like a nutcase laughing. Haha. And yes Season 6 soon, hehe.

zigpal- yay, claps. teehee. and I know- everything going very bad at the moment- I think Joyce is close to breakdown. Who wouldn't be? thanks very much for review and hope you like this chapter.

g120- thank you for review, and Riga eh? Nice. Happy to be of use in making the waitage more bearable. Your last comment about internet gods really made me chuckle (the library people are now looking at me oddly...). And I hope they smile down on me too...coz at the moment I'm smile free. Apparently I need an ethernet cable according to the good-people-charging-me-a-dollar-per-minute-for-the-call at the internet service. So after uploading this I'm on an ethernet hunt. There's very little woo or hoo for that. I am so large with the confused. Haha.

* * *

Buffy sat there, motionless. Her eyes weren't even seeing what was going on around her in the abandoned gas station and her expression didn't reveal any hidden fears over the fact Dawn was gone, stolen by Glory. 

On the opposite side of the room, Joyce also sat motionless, looking so lost that Willow's only assurance that she hadn't drifted into the same catatonic state as her daughter was the fact she kept crying at odd intervals at the entire situation and also seemed to register the fact that she was sat next to the now permanently conscious and well-on-the-way-to-getting-better Giles. She was holding onto his hand tightly as though that would give her strength to carry on, which Willow thought, on reflection, it probably did. However, she did notice that Giles was wincing slightly at the tightness of the grip.

"Better part of a century spent in delinquency just paid off," Spike announced, walking back in and for the second time (The first being Giles finally being able to sit up and stay conscious) Joyce's attention was dragged away from staring at the dusty floor or staring across at her practically lifeless daughter. "Hot wired Ben's car," Spike explained, "Who's for getting the hell out of here?"

"What about Buffy?" Joyce asked, her voice hoarse from lack of use ever since Dawn had been taken away, "I mean...she's not moving...we can't...how can we move her?"

"Still no change?" Spike asked and there was worry in his voice as he glanced over at the Slayer.

"No," Willow replied, "It's been almost half an hour..."

"The Slayer'll be alright. Won't she?" Spike looked around at all them for confirmation and it was clear he was close to panic over the whole situation. Joyce knew exactly how he felt and she smiled weakly at him in understanding. She didn't answer his question though and neither did anyone else. None of them knew the answer...or really, they were afraid that they did.

"Try again, Will," Xander urged for lack of anything else to say.

"Okay, but I'm not sure if she's you know...really in there..." Willow hated voicing these thoughts, because it brought a harsh reality to them that couldn't be brushed away. She also regretted her words when she heard Joyce's choking sobs once more. The woman was barely able to hold it together anymore.

"Try," Xander insisted and Willow shrugged in acceptance before walking over to Buffy, kneeling down so she was on eye level with her, though Buffy showed no recognition of this fact. Willow might as well have been on the opposite side of the room for all Buffy registered she was there.

"Buffy?" Willow called as though trying to grab the attention of somewhere lost way down a deep well. "Can you hear me? Buffy? Buffy? Buffy?"

"Oh god," Joyce murmured, unable to watch the scene anymore, finding it all too harrowing. She instead buried her face in Giles' top, careful to avoid the injury to his abdomen.

Giles didn't know what to say. What could he say? Both her daughters were essentially gone, one in the arms of an insane hell god who could be, in all honesty, torturing her right now. What on Earth was there to say that could make all that better? He struggled to put his arm around her comfortingly, that small gesture causing sharp, agonizing stabs of pain to tug at his stomach.

"Their my babies," Joyce carried on, looking at him, "Both of them. They're just little kids...I just want them both home with me. I want them both home. Oh God...what must Dawn be going through...oh God..." She started to cry again, the thought too harrowing for her not to.

"She can't be brain dead," Spike said the statement with such firmness and power behind it, it was as though he were willing it to be true. If he carried on saying it, perhaps it would happen. Buffy would wake up, blink her eyes...stretch as though from a long sleep. But she wasn't waking up, blinking her eyes to clear her dreary sight...nothing. There was no Prince Charming to bring her back to life. Just Spike with a vampire's impatience and several friends who were just as clueless about what to do as her Mother and Stepfather. "I mean she's still Buffy," Spike carried on, "Somewhere in there. Right?"

"Spike, come on," Xander spoke as the voice of reason, "We're not getting Dawn back by sitting around here"

"You're not getting Dawn back anyway you slice it Harris," Spike retorted, "That's for Buffy to handle"

"Good," Xander said sarcastically, all voice of reason gone in a flash, "Panic. That oughta help"

"It's like she's in some kind of fugue state..." Anya stated, looking at Buffy contemplatively.

"We should move her," Willow suggested, "Unless we shouldn't...should we?"

"We're going to have to...eventually," Joyce told her quietly, "We can't stay here forever..."

"We don't even know what's wrong with her," Xander said, "So we don't know what'd be good or bad for her...I am so large with the not knowing"

"It's impossible to know for sure," Giles spoke up in his familiar I've-got-a-theory voice and everyone was suddenly eager to listen to anything that would give some sort of explanation for Buffy's state, "Losing Dawn...after everything that Buffy's been through this...well, this entire year...I think it's pushed her too far, into some kind of catatonia"

"_She's_ fine though," Spike jerked a thumb at Joyce and she jumped slightly in surprise as to why he was referring to her, "No offense love, but in all frankness you've had it bloody darn bad lately. First you had that Ethan guy doing god knows what to ya, then you find out Dawn ain't real, then you miscarry, then you have to drop everything to run away from Glory, then your brand new hubbie is speared by some musketeer and almost _dies_, Dawn is snatched away by a crazy hell god and your other daughter isn't waking up anytime soon."

"Spike," Giles said in a warning tone, "I strongly suggest you get to whatever point it is your trying to make"

"What I'm sayin' is if anyone should be catatonic because it's '_too much_' it should be her. But she's still with us...so what's got Buffy over there is something more than too much of something in my opinion"

Everyone was silent as they contemplated Spike's highly insightful argument and they realized there was some truth to what he had said, and that it in fact, surprisingly, made sense.

"Guilt," Joyce whispered quietly into the silent gas station and everyone turned to look at her.

"What?" Willow asked.

"Guilt," She repeated, thinking to herself about the conversation she had had oh-so-recently with Dawn, where she had felt she had been at fault for everything even though it just wasn't true, "I think...she blames herself..."

"Yes," Giles was surprised by the concept, but agreed with it nonetheless- the entire thing made perfect sense to him, "She counted herself responsible for Dawn's safety so when Glory took her away..."

"She held herself to blame," Willow finished.

"Hence the coma," Anya concluded bluntly.

"Well, it's time for her to get over it," Spike said, heading over to Buffy and grabbing her shoulders to shake her violently, "Oi! Rise and shine love!"

"Spike!" Joyce and Anya shouted at him and he paused in his Buffy-shaking to look over at them both and subsequently the rest of the group.

"Come on people, the girl's endowed with Slayer strength. Hardly the time to get dainty," He returned his attention back to Buffy, "BUFFY!"

"We tried that," Xander informed him, realizing Spike had been out of the room, apparently hot wiring Ben's car, when Willow had been calling out to Buffy.

Spike didn't reply to Xander's statement or even show any sign of having heard it, before he slapped Buffy.

"Spike!" Joyce exclaimed in shock.

"We didn't try that," Anya acknowledged.

Xander shoved Spike away from Buffy, well away from her and stood in front of the Slayer, standing between her and Spike, as an extra caution.

"Are you insane?" Xander asked the vampire, outraged, "We could be dealing with neurological damage here. You want to kill her?"

When Spike replied, his voice was filled with mounting panic and for the first time Xander saw how much Spike actually did care for Buffy, infatuation or no.

"We've got to do something! I can't just sit here watching. You waste time with kid gloves. I'm willing to gamble when all's said and done- Buffy likes it rough."

And on that disturbing note Spike walked around Xander to shove Buffy into awakening again, but Xander wouldn't let him.

"I said stop!"

He shoved him away again, but even harder this time and Spike stumbled for a moment before heading towards him angrily and within moments they were in one another's face, both clearly looking for some violence.

"Do that again and I'll have a piece of you," Spike told him menacingly.

Xander promptly punched Spike right in the jaw and Spike lunged at him in retaliation.

"OKAY! EVERYBODY JUST STOP!" Joyce exclaimed, standing up, the fight between Spike and Xander clearly being one thing too much for her on a very long list. Willow, who had been about to cast a spell to separate the two, looking up in mild surprise at Joyce, who had walked over to stand between the two guys, "That is just about enough," She continued as everyone fell into silence, "Things are bad enough as it is and we do not need two _stupid_ little boys playing fisticuffs." The boys looked embarrassed and both slightly hung their heads, not making eye contact with Joyce, "Buffy clearly needs help, if not medical attention and right now Glory is doing god-knows-what to Dawn and if I'm entirely realistic we all know that no matter what, it won't be pleasant so I do _not_ need these petty rivalries coming into play. The only way either of them and any of us are going to be okay is if we think clearly and act responsibly and quickly. There is no time for mistakes"

At her words, silence once again hung in the air, but both Spike and Xander seemed to calm down and the two of them headed to opposite sides of the room and away from each other. Willow, satisfied that everyone had settled down for now, took charge once more.

"Right, first thing's first- we need to head back to Sunnydale. Agreed?" Everybody nodded, "Xander- you drive Giles to the hospital. Joyce- you go with. Anya- you will look after Tara, and Spike? You find Glory, check her apartment first, and see if she's still there. Try anything stupid like payback and I will get very cranky,"

"What about Buffy?" Joyce asked, "I mean sh-"

"I will help Buffy," Willow told her calmly, "Don't worry. I will fix it."

Joyce nodded, forcing herself to put her faith and trust in Willow- she had done many times before of course, but never to this extent. Yet, she knew the sweet young woman would do anything not to let her down in all things Buffy-related. Happy that she could trust Willow, Joyce started to help Giles up with Anya's assistance, but Spike's question stopped them all in their tracks.

"Uh...people, what do we do if come across Ben?"

"Nothing," Willow replied, wondering, like everyone else, why on earth Spike had even asked such a random question, "I don't think a Doctor's what Buffy needs right now"

"Well, yeah," Spike agreed, "Especially not one who happens to be Glory"

"What do you mean?" Giles asked.

"You know..." Spike prompted slowly, "Ben is Glory..."

"You mean Ben's with Glory?" Willow attempted to translate (wrongly).

"'With' in what sense?" Xander asked.

"You mean, like a couple?" Joyce checked, wondering how they couldn't have figured out up till now that the two were dating. Scary stuff.

"Does that mean that they're working together?" Anya surmised and Joyce shrugged along with everyone else. If they were dating, it was entirely possible...or was it?

"No," Spike said firmly, "no, Ben _is_ Glory. Glory's Ben. They're one and the same" His impatience was seeping through into both his voice and his body language.

"When did this all happen?" Anya asked.

"Not one hour ago!" Spike exclaimed, "Right here! Before you very eyes!"

"What happened...'before our very eyes'?" Joyce asked, confused as to what the hell Spike was prattling on about.

"Ben!" He shouted in reply, clearly exasperated at all of them, "Ben was here, he then turned into Glory, snatched the kid and pfft! Vanished! Remember?" He looked at them all hopefully, praying their memory banks would kick in, yet they looked even more clueless than ever, not even attempting to reply or guess to what he was talking about. "You do remember?" Silence. "Is everyone here very stoned?" He cried out in frustration, running his fingers through his bleached blond hair, "Ben. Glory. He's a doctor. She's the Beast. Two entirely separate entities, sharing one body. It's like a bloody sitcom! Surely, you remember!"

Clearly they didn't if their almost comically blank stares were anything to go by.

"So you're saying..." Xander began slowly, attempting to make sense of all that Spike had said to them, "Ben and Glory..."

"Have a..._connection_" Anya finished.

"Yes, obviously," Giles nodded, "But what kind?"

"Good question," Joyce agreed, looking around at everyone, "They could be dating."

"Ooh! That's probable," Xander nodded in eager agreement at the theory.

"Ah I get it!" Spike nodded in frustrated realization, "Very crafty. Glory's worked the kind of mojo where anyone who sees her little presto-chango instantly forgets. And yours truly, being somewhat other than human, stands immune"

"So Ben and Glory... are the same person?" Willow checked uncertainly.

"Ben is the mortal body Glory has...that Buffy was telling me about," Joyce continued, _finally_ getting what Spike was saying.

"So Ben can turn into Glory, Glory can turn into Ben?" Xander checked and Joyce nodded, as did Spike.

"Yes but-" She began before falling into spooky synchronization with Anya.

"Anyone who sees it instantly forgets"

Spike nodded in relief, so glad that they all finally understood it all.

"And a Kewpie doll for the ladies over there," He grinned at them

"Excellent," Giles agreed, now that was done with, "Now. Do we suspect that there could be any kind of link between Ben and Glory?"

"Is that really possible?" Joyce asked him skeptically and Spike sighed in resignation.

"Might be best I explain on the way"

* * *

"Hi," Xander smiled cheerfully at the woman at the reception desk at Sunnydale General, as though willing her to not ask any awkward questions as he continued, "We kinda need to see a doctor. Pronto" He stepped aside so the woman could see the badly injured Giles being helped onto a seat by Joyce. 

"Oh...you know, this is really for A&E" She informed him and Xander just replied with a steely gaze, "But you're here now," She continued off his look, "So we'll just erm...I'll see who we can get to see to him." She almost immediately started pressing buttons, making calls and answering phones. After a few minutes she finally came to a standstill and Xander waited expectantly for what she had to say, "Well, if you could wait over there for just a minute Dr Gregory will be right with you"

"Okay, thanks," Xander smiled, heading over to where Joyce and Giles were sat, "Hey, a doctor should be over in a few"

"I knew we should have gone to accident and emergency," Joyce grumbled, detesting even the smallest of waits.

"Maybe...but then there would have been questions of what type of accident," Xander countered, "This way? Minimal questions"

Joyce chose not to reply, but instead returned her attention to Giles.

"How are you...holding up?"

"I'll be better when painkillers come my way," He joked feebly, but deep down meant every word and Joyce seemed to know that as she gave him a sympathetic look, holding his hand, before looking up and down the corridor, willing 'Dr Gregory' to hurry up and suddenly appear stood on the linoleum floor in front of them.

Which oddly enough she did, as for the one moment Joyce was looking down the west corridor, Dr Gregory appeared from the east.

"Hello, I'm Dr Gregory," The woman smiled at the three of them, but her expression soon became very non-smiley and more shocked-frowny when her eyes fell on Giles, "Oh god." At these words all three shared looks of panic and Dr Gregory hurried to reassure them, "Oh sorry!" She apologized, "I didn't mean- sorry, it's just they told me very little when they called me down here. Just said 'are you free?', assumed it was a broken finger or something. Sorry, so it was a bit of a shock…sorry." There was a moment of silence before the (slightly ditzy apparently) doctor realized she had a job to do, "Oh sorry, again, we'd best get you to a ward...first that is. I mean, I don't think you'll need operating on, but you'll definitely need that wound inspected and...Well, re-dressed," She wandered off slightly, calling a couple of porters who were hanging in the corridor over. "Could one of you, erm, please just get Mr..." She looked at Giles for a prompt.

"Giles, Rupert Giles," He filled in and she nodded in acknowledgment before turning her attention back to the two porters.

"Yes, erm, could you get a wheelchair for Mr Giles, here? Thanks,"

"Oh, no I can walk," Giles insisted even as the porters rushed off, "I don't need a wheelchair- I can walk to...wherever it is we're going quite easily, I assure you," The thought of having to be wheeled into a room was just too humiliating for him even to consider.

"Nonsense," Dr Gregory shook the thought aside, "No point exerting yourself with an injury like that if you don't have to," She frowned at him then, "Just how actually did you acquire such an injury? And in the _gut_?" She added frankly

​"D.I.Y," Xander filled in an excuse immediately, "Sharp pointy things that are used in D.I.Y. D.I.Y was what he was doing and then with the falling and then with the...and that's how he got the...yeah..." He trailed off just as the porters returned with the requested wheelchair that looked as if the moment Giles even put his hand on one of the arms the entire thing would collapse under the mild pressure.

"Oh don't be put off by its appearance," Dr Gregory said, reading all their minds, "It's a lot sturdier than it looks"

"Hmm..." Giles grumbled, sounding highly unconvinced, but without much more of a choice he reluctantly sat in the chair and was relieved to find it didn't fold in on him. Still, the feeling of humiliation was creeping up on him as Dr Gregory started to wheel him down the corridor, Joyce and Xander following. Suddenly he came to an abrupt stop as Dr Gregory turned to both Joyce and Xander.

"I'm sorry, but how are you related to Mr Giles?" She asked, putting a hand on Giles' shoulder protectively. Perhaps she was this caring and protective towards all her patients, but the way she said his name Joyce doubted that it was the same kind of attention and caring she was intending to pay to Giles, so it was with a hidden grin and barely concealed smugness that Joyce claimed;

"I'm his wife,"

"Oh," Dr Gregory, slightly deflated, nodded to let Joyce know that it was okay for her to come along. She then turned to Xander, " What about you? Sorry to ask, it's just when we first see to a patient we try to keep it family only"

Joyce really wanted Xander to come along with them, for support if anything. With Xander's constant situation-jokes that had become his trademark, Joyce felt she was less lightly to fall into the breakdown she knew she was precariously leaning towards right now. Xander could bring a levity to anything Dr Gregory said and Joyce, right now, really needed that. But it was only family that was aloud to go along.

"Son," She suddenly blurted without thinking and Dr Gregory looked at her questioningly, "He's...our son..."

"I am?" Xander asked at the same time Giles asked, "He is?" in the same incredulous tone.

Dr Gregory looked at them all suspiciously.

"I...am," Xander tried to bring a level of certainty to his voice, but found it wavered slightly, nevertheless, Dr Gregory seemed to accept this.

"Okay," She sighed, "Guess it's a family outing"

As they followed behind Dr Gregory and Giles, Xander turned to Joyce questioningly.

"Son?" He whispered.

"It was all I could think of okay?" She whispered back testily.

* * *

"Well, that's pretty much all I can do," Dr Gregory informed them later on after she had seen to Giles' injury and he was now bandaged properly and had had a reasonable amount of painkillers injected into his arm, "You should be okay. The stitches should hold...as long as there is no undue strain on them," 

"Well, I guess that's no more D.I.Y for you for a while," Xander joked, tapping Giles on the arm jovially, "_Dad_"

This earned him a glare from Giles that Xander feared would burn him to a cinder where he stood. Nevertheless, this whole situation and cover-up was too fun for him to back away due to a simple glare.

"Mom told him _I _could do the shelving units," He told Dr Gregory, "But Dad insisted he wanted a Father-Son activity, time to re-bond you know..." Xander grinned even more when he saw the look on Giles' face. Joyce on the other hand was apparently trying to remain somber while she clearly wanted to start laughing. Which was a nice change from all the crying she'd been doing since Glory had stolen Dawn and Xander was happy he was the one who had been able to distract her and cheer her up.

"Yes, well," Dr Gregory looked knowingly at Giles, "I doubt you're the type who'll willingly stick to bed rest, but I have to say your son is right when he says no more D.I.Y activities," Giles didn't reply but looked extremely unhappy and Dr Gregory seemed to assume that this was the veto on the D.I.Y that was causing this mood and not the fact that Xander was mocking him, "Well, I guess you're free to go-" She went to open the door then stopped as she remembered something, "Oh, but you'll need to fill in some forms of course, sorry. Insurance details, things like that"

"Of course," Joyce nodded, "We can sort that out at the desk, right?"

"Yes, yes you can," Dr Gregory nodded before saying bye to them all, telling them she was needed down at another ward, before leaving the room.

"You were loving that way too bloody much," Giles said to Xander as soon as the Doctor had left and Joyce couldn't contain her laughter any longer, which is when Giles also turned on her, but admittedly, less harshly, "And you're as much to blame, coming up with that ridiculous cover"

"Sorry," She apologized, but she was still smiling so Giles doubted she actually meant it, "It was the only thing I can could come up with on the spot that didn't involve Xander having to make a terrible attempt at a British accent"

"I cud have cam up with a British accent imeedjutleh" Xander protested, his English accent completely atrocious.

"I do not talk like that," Giles argued, standing up with Joyce's help. He wasn't 100, but he definitely felt a lot better than he did before which he took to be a good sign and this spurred him on, "Do we have any further word on Buffy?" He asked as the three of them left the room and started heading down the hallway.

"Yeah, actually," Xander admitted, "While you were getting sticherific with California's very own Emma Thompson, I got a call from Anya"

Giles didn't bother to inform him that in a hospital cell phones were meant to be switched off.

"She said that Willow's on it," Xander continued, "She's working some spell, trying to reach Buffy psychically."

"She's gone into Buffy's mind?" Giles asked in disbelief.

"Pretty trippy stuff," Xander agreed.

"It's extraordinarily advanced," Giles informed him, looking momentarily concerned about Willow, before he seemed to shake it off, "I'm thinking we might check on Glory's victims while we're here."

"Why?" Joyce asked with a bemused frown.

"Perhaps they could give us some insight into Glory's plans," Giles shrugged, "Perhaps some incoherent ramblings that we could read into?"

"No point," Xander told them both, "Mental ward's cleared out. Nobody there. It's like they all just got up and walked away"

"Which considering the way Tara was acting..." Joyce suggested and Giles nodded in agreement.

"It could be very possible that that is exactly what happened," He finished her sentence just as Spike walked over to them, looking extremely out of place, his black ensemble a stark contrast against the white, sterile environment of the hospital.

"Checked out Glory's flat," He said as he reached them, falling into pace beside them, "looks like the Great One has scampered"

"Oh god," Joyce put a hand to her mouth in distress, realizing that wherever Glory had gone, she had taken Dawn with her.

"Gone to perform her ritual," Giles elaborated on Spike's comment, though he struggled to say the next bit, "with...Dawn. And leaving us entirely clueless"

"Not entirely," Spike countered and the three looked at him, interest piqued by the prospect that he may have some Dawn-saving insight into the situation. "I know this bloke. Well, not so much a 'bloke' as a demon, but still..." Despite the fact he was in a hospital and it was so very strictly against hospital policy, Spike lit up a cigarette, ignoring Joyce's look of disapproval as he carried on talking between drags, "might persuade him to suss out Glory's game plan. Sound worthy?"

None of them answered his question, but their looks of resolve answered it well enough. They were agreed and they were in.

"Off we go then," Spike said, grabbing hold of Xander, before turning to look at Giles and Joyce, "Meet you back at the shop" He told them heading off with Xander out of the hospital.

"You think it'll help us to find Dawn?" Joyce asked as she and Giles walked in the opposite direction. She didn't know whether she wanted a lie or a truth in answer. She just wanted Giles to wipe all her fears away about Glory, about Dawn, about Buffy...but she knew, deep down, that that would never be possible.

"Well, if anyone can drag vital information out of the pits of hell... it's Spike," Giles reasoned, "And he seems desperate enough to help...and with Xander along as well..." He didn't say anything else. He had given all the positive points he could, but he was not going to go as far as to give false hope that would only make the let down later on even greater.

"You feeling better now?" Joyce asked suddenly and Giles was startled by this abrupt change in topic.

"Well, uh, yes, actually, much," He told her and actually meant it as he found he was starting to lose the slight limp he had developed since he had first stood up after having the injury partially dealt with by Ben.

"Good," She told him before impulsively putting her arms around him warmly and giving him a gently demanding kiss. He responded, despite where they were and despite what dire situations they had to face, as he felt as though he hadn't any such moment with her in years. Although in matter of fact, it was barely weeks, but it was long enough. As they slowly broke the kiss, she smiled at him slightly, but it was a weak smile. "Thank you"

"I assure you...the, uh, pleasure was mine," He smiled back at her.

"It's just... I-I needed that," She told him, "I mean with everything that's happening right now...and you almost _died_ and…. I just needed something to...remind me that you're there and...you almost died," She repeated, falling into sobs and he held her as they stood in the hospital corridor.

"It's okay, it's okay," He repeated reassuringly, "We'll figure everything out I promise. If I have to read every Glory-related text a million times to find a way to save Dawn, I will do it" He kissed the top of her head as he held her close, her sobs the only sound he got in reply, "I promise"

* * *

Joyce was pacing the floor of the Magic Box anxiously, not even attempting to research. Last call they had had, they'd found out Willow had just gone into Buffy's mind. As of yet they had both to awaken from their catatonic state and it was this, among many other reasons that was causing Joyce to pace.

Giles wasn't even paying attention to her as he looked over the same text he had just come across again and again as though checking he had read the information right. After the fifteenth check he pushed the pieces of paper aside angrily, cursing under his breath. Next he took his glasses off abruptly and slammed them down on the table along side the offending information. He then stood up just as abruptly and then seemed to begin his own brand of pacing, but instead settled to stand there, running his fingers through his hair in frustration, every now and then pivoting on the spot as though undecided about which direction to pace, before he cursed under his breath once again.

Xander, while wondering what on earth had gotten Giles so rattled, couldn't help looking at the fact that neither husband nor wife seemed to be taking any notice of each other's similar actions, both apparently too busy with their own frustration and worry.

Tara continued to murmur about time in the corner, occasionally asking Anya in a round about way, where Willow was. Anya had, at first, paid full attention to Tara in between attempting to research into Glory and Dawn's part in it all. But now, her own frustration evidently mounting though it had yet to reach Giles level, whenever Tara called for attention, Anya simply handed her back Joyce's necklace without even glancing up. Xander dreaded the moment when the silver pendent would no longer entertain the Wicca.

Spike, for once, was actually researching, but Xander could clearly see that his mind was on Buffy constantly, wondering whether she was okay, whether Willow had fixed it, whether-

The sound of the bell ringing above the shop door drew everyone's attention and they all stopped whatever useless thing they were doing at the time to see Buffy and Willow walking over to them.

"Buffy!" Joyce exclaimed happily, running over to hug her daughter tightly, "You're okay, oh thank god you're okay"

"You're back," Giles smiled.

"Have you found the ritual text?" Buffy asked, all business once she had hugged her Mom and she walked over to the round table matter-of-factly. Joyce and Willow followed closely behind as Joyce mouthed a silent thank you to Willow for saving one of her daughters.

"Something like that, yes," Giles, admitted.

"You have?" Joyce asked, "Why didn't you say? I thought you hadn't found anything yet"

"I had to look over... check some final details," Giles would not look Joyce in the eye as he sat back in his seat at the table, dragging the previously discarded information back over to him.

"Did you know- Ben is Glory?" Xander asked Buffy enthusiastically as Giles put his glasses back on.

"So I'm told," Buffy replied, Willow having told her this little snippet of information on the way and as she had been told Buffy remembered the moment in the gas station when Ben had freaked. And then Ben hadn't been Ben anymore. She spoke to Giles directly, "What do we know?"

"I'm afraid it..." Giles began, but then faltered. He didn't want to say what he had read. He didn't want to tell Buffy or Joyce, but especially not Joyce. How could he tell her this? That the death of her youngest daughter seemed to be the only way to save the world? There was another reason he didn't want to say it though. Saying it made it real. Made it unavoidable. And god how much Giles wanted to avoid it. When Giles had first met Buffy, Dawn had been nothing more than the Slayer's little sister (though of course, if he thought further on this, that was never how he met Dawn as she wasn't there to meet...but thinking on that too much could give one a near-fatal headache), but as he had gotten to know both Buffy and Dawn more...and then began dating Joyce...well, he had loved Dawn more and more like a daughter, just as he loved Buffy. He didn't want to see her killed all for 'the greater good' anymore than Joyce did. Or Buffy. It wasn't fair. It was stupid, pointless, unfair. And even more unfair? He was the one who was going to have to tell them. "Buffy, I've read these very carefully," He continued, "There's not much margin for error. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Might help if you actually said it," Buffy quipped, and Giles knew that within moments that lively, witty attitude that was Buffy's trademark would fade away as he gave her the devastating discovery of how to defeat Glory and save the world.

"Glory plans to open a dimensional portal, by way of a ritual blood letting," He explained and everyone nodded in understanding.

"Dawn's blood," Buffy elaborated, trying to keep her emotions out the affair as she made that statement.

"Yes," Giles agreed, "Once the blood is shed at a certain time and place, the fabric separating all realities will be ripped apart. Dimensions will pour into one another with no barrier to stop them. Reality as we know it will be destroyed, and chaos will reign on Earth"

"So how do we stop it?" Buffy asked, determination in her eyes.

"The portal will only close once the blood is stopped," Giles explained, not even looking down at the papers. He had read the details so many times; they had been brutally committed to memory. "And the only way for that to happen is..." Giles trailed off, his mouth drying up, rendering him unable to say the words as he looked on at Joyce and Buffy, both of them waiting for what he had to say. Both of them expecting him to come up with the perfect world saving answer as always. One that would give them all purpose and the ability to save Dawn. Not this time though, not this time, "Buffy," He said, his voice returned, "The only way is to kill Dawn,"

Buffy didn't say a word in response, but her expression lost all determination, all resolve. She looked like she had lost all hope.

There was a slight 'thunk' and the group turned to see Joyce had slid down the bookcase she had been leaning on and had fell to the floor, her facial expression almost matching Buffy's exactly. Willow's first thought was 'oh no, another coma' as she watched Giles run over to Joyce, kneeling down so he was at her level.

"You're wrong," Joyce said quietly, not looking at Giles, "You've got to be wrong. We can't kill...I can't even say it," She turned to look at him, tears streaming down her face, "You're wrong,"

"I wish I were," Giles told her, "But I can't change...it is what it is..."

"No," Joyce argued, shaking her head firmly at Giles just as Buffy ran out the back door, wanting to get away from it all. Willow decided now was not the time for her to have a friend following her- she needed time alone.

"Joyce, I-" Giles began but Joyce was still speaking and she talked over him.

"No, no, you're wrong," Joyce insisted.

"I'm not," Giles, told her, his voice quiet as though he'd lost all energy to carry on going and Willow thought, in light of everything, he probably had.

"Yes you are," Joyce insisted further, "You're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong," She punctuated each word with a fist to Giles' chest, fighting him, though her meager punches had little effect on him. She kept going though, kept hitting, as though fighting him was fighting what the scrolls said about Dawn, "You're wrong, you're wrong," Her fists disappeared as her hands opened and she just grasped at Giles' shirt tightly, falling into him as he held her, her sobs loud and uncontrollable as she cried into him, still protesting, "You're wrong, you're wrong"

And Willow could just hear Giles' words echoing in her head, haunting her.

_The only way is to kill Dawn._


	27. The Gift

Rabidreject- Thank you very much. Glad you liked it.

Zigpal- thanks for the review, and of course, the claps. Where would I be without those? Hehe. Happy you liked Joyce taking charge...just seemed like her moment hehe.

* * *

**A/N: This is NOT the last chapter of season 5. Repeat,not. There will be one more and then it's on to Cocorific Season 6.**

* * *

Willow and Xander were the only ones researching anymore and even they weren't getting very far. Spike was making no effort at all on the text front and was merely perched on the nearby ladder having a smoke, Anya was pacing nervously obviously fearing for her life over what was going to happen next, Buffy was still outside after running off and Tara was clearly in no fit state to research. Willow figured Giles would have helped with the researching, but he was too busy hugging Joyce supportively where she'd slid to the floor moments earlier in shock. She had stopped crying uncontrollably, but she hadn't gotten over hearing those words about Dawn. She looked as though her whole world had just dissolved around her. And so he just sat there with her, hugging her. 

Willow really hoped they would be able to come up with an alternate way to save the world. Really hoped.

They heard the side door open and Buffy walked back in slowly, somberly, quietly. She didn't say a word to any of them as she walked in.

"Something going on out back?" Xander asked for lack of anything else to say.

"Vampire," Was all she said in reply.

"Oh," Xander was just as monosyllabic.

Buffy didn't say anything else but just took in the scene around her, looking from Spike to Anya to Tara to Willow to Xander and then finally, to her Mom and Giles. Her eyes rested there as she looked down at her Mom's tear stained face.

"Anything?" She asked, meaning research. She asked this question directly to Giles, even though it was obvious he hadn't been researching any since she'd ran off.

"We...not much, Buffy," Willow told her but her friend continued to look at Giles.

"There's got to be another way," She insisted.

"And if there is, we will find it Buffy," He told her but he couldn't deny the facts, "But-"

"No," Buffy shook her head, "No buts. We find another way. End of"

Silence fell on them all again. All of them thinking the same thing, but afraid to say it to Buffy. What if they couldn't find another way?

"Tell me the ritual again," She ordered, her eyes still firmly on Giles.

"Buffy, no," Joyce protested, "I don't want to hear it again"

"Go through it again," Buffy insisted firmly, ignoring her Mother's distress.

"They key was living energy," Giles began, acutely aware of how much this was upsetting Joyce, but forcing himself to go on, "It needed to be channeled, poured into a specific spot at a specific time. With all attendant ritual of course. The energy would flow into that spot, the walls between the dimensions would break down. It stops- the energy is used up- and the walls come back up. Glory uses that time to get back to her own dimension, not caring that all manner of hell will be unleashed on Earth in the meantime."

After that was said, he returned his attention back to Joyce, holding her, stroking her hair soothingly and lovingly. Anything to try and comfort her.

"But only for a little while right?" Anya asked, "The walls come back...no more hell?"

"But that's only if the energy is stopped," Willow informed her, "And now that the key is human-"

"Now the key's Dawn," Joyce stated, cutting her off, in a shocked tone of voice as though not quite believing the words she was saying, "So it's her blood now...her.." She trailed off, distraught.

"I have places to be!" Tara suddenly shouted in a panicked voice and the group momentarily and instinctively recoiled at this outburst.

"Why blood?" Xander asked in frustration, "Why does it have to be Dawn's blood? Why couldn't it be like a lymph ritual?"

"Cause it's always gotta be blood," Spike spoke up and Xander turned on him.

"We're not actually discussing dinner right now"

"Blood is life, lackbrain," Spike retorted and the certainty in his words caused both Buffy and Joyce to look over at him in concentrated interest, his words reaching them, "Why do you think we eat it? It's what keeps you going, makes you warm, makes you hard, makes you other than dead," Spike turned away in disgust, "Of course it's her blood"

"Pretty simple math here," Buffy concluded, "We stop Glory before she can start the ritual. There's still a couple of hours right?"

"If my calculations are right," Giles admitted and Joyce sat up out of his embrace.

"You mean we can save Dawn? She could be okay...we could...could we?"

"Why not?" Buffy said, "We stop the ritual from ever happening, keep Glory from ever completing it and no portals open. Dawn's safe...and so's the world"

"I hate to be the detail police, Buffy," Willow spoke up, "But what if we can't stop it in time?"

That question hung in the air for all of them and what little hope Joyce had felt for that brief moment was immediately replaced by fear. Fear for Dawn's life.

"We will," Buffy said, sounding less confident than she intended.

"But what if-" Willow began to ask, but Buffy cut her off.

"No- we are not having this conversation. I won't talk about killing my sister!"

There. The words were out there. The what-if scenario they had all be avoiding was spoke aloud.

"She's not your sister," Giles said quietly, not without sadness in his voice. He hated being the one who had to put things into perspective, say the harsh truths no one else wanted to face. It made him out to be the bad guy, when he didn't want to face these facts as much as the rest of them.

At his words Joyce scrambled away from him, grabbing one of the shelves on the bookcase to lift herself up so she was standing, looking down at Giles in shock and anger.

"How can you say that? Of course she's her sister. She's my daughter. How can-"

"No she's not," Giles insisted, in that same quiet voice.

"He's right," Buffy nodded, "She's not"

"Buffy," Joyce looked at Buffy in just as much shock, wondering how on Earth she could agree with Giles.

"She's more than that," Buffy continued, "More than my sister...more than Mom's daughter...she's me. The Monks made her out of me. I hold her and I feel closer to her than..." Buffy sighed, unable to articulate what she felt about Dawn. She looked across at her Mom and Buffy saw that she knew exactly what she meant, knew exactly what she was talking about and it was this that encouraged Buffy to carry on explaining it to the rest, "You can say it's just because of the memories they built...but Mom, she doesn't have those- she also remembers when Dawn wasn't there"

"What?" Willow asked, wide-eyed along with everyone else.

"She doesn't remember Dawn?" Xander asked, "When did this happen?"

It was then that Buffy remembered, no one else but she, her Mom and Giles had known that as they were the only ones who knew how the Monks' spell had originally effected Joyce.

"The point isn't why," She decided to tell them in reply, "The point is- Mom may not have those memories, not alone anyway, but she knows Dawn is her daughter as much as I know she's my sister. It's more than the memories- it's physical, it's...Dawn is a part of me. The only part I-" Buffy broke off unable to continue and Joyce crossed the room to hold her, the two of them finding comfort in one another.

"We'll solve this," Willow assured them, "We will. Don't have another coma okay?"

"You know that I want-" Giles began, standing up, but Joyce cut him off.

"Don't," She told him, holding up a hand to stop him, "Just don't."

"Joyce-"

"You said she wasn't her sister, that she wasn't my child," Joyce reminded him, "How could you?"

"I didn't mean that I-"

"You didn't mean to but you managed to anyway,"

Her cold words hit him as though he had been slapped.

"I love Dawn," He told her, "as much as I love Buffy- as if she were my own, but if the ritual starts then every living creature in this dimension will suffer unbearable torment and death...including Dawn." He took a step towards Joyce and she at least didn't step away, but she met his gaze evenly and silently. "And I don't want that. And neither should you"

He saw her thinking over his words, contemplating what it would mean for Dawn, for everyone.

"I've got to protect her," She finally said, just as quietly as he had spoken before.

"I know," He nodded, "But if the ritual starts then you...we have to understand that that may be the only way _to _protect her"

Both Buffy and Joyce seemed to take this in, both of them becoming even more detached and somber as they couldn't hide from the fact there was truth in Giles' words. But everything in them was telling them to fight against it- their instincts were telling them to help Dawn, save Dawn, protect Dawn until the world ends.

"Okay," Anya said, breaking into the silence with a raised hand, "All in favor of stopping Glory _before_ the ritual? Suggestions? Ideas? Times a wastin'..."

No one replied. No one had any ideas. So Anya continued with her pep talk.

"Willow! I bet you've got some dark spell a brewin'! You make her a toad, little hoppy toad, we hit her with a hammer"

"Hee, hoppy toad," Tara giggled childishly, drawing all their attention.

"What about Ben?" Xander asked, "He can be killed right? I mean, I know he's an innocent but he's not _Dawn_ innocent-"

"No he's not," Joyce interrupted him, "He's not an innocent."

"He's human," Buffy stated as though that left no room for questions or argument.

"He's Glory," Joyce countered, "Or as good as and with Ben gone, Glory's gone and that means Dawn's safe which is, frankly, all I care about"

"Right," Xander agreed, "We could kill..." He started to trail off as he realized there was no strength behind his words, "a regular guy...oh god. No..."

Joyce and Giles looked at each other when Xander dropped his head into his hands, disgusted by his own thoughts. They shared the same look, a look of resolve. Were they willing to? Joyce had always believed herself to be one of those equal-rights typed- an innocent was an innocent no matter what. But things weren't black and white anymore, all they seemed to do lately was wander through constant gray. And it was Dawn's life at stake. And that was all that mattered right now. And their looks said yes, they'd both be willing to. Luckily, no one else seemed to see this.

"It's doubtful he'll resurface this close to the ritual," Giles told them all, but he was looking at Joyce as though concluding their silent conversation, "We have to expect it's Glory we'll be dealing with"

"But she's basically undefeatable," Joyce said, sounding, in contrast, pretty defeated herself, "How are we supposed to stall _her_?"

"Should we join essences and become Superslayer again?" Xander suggested. It was hard to believe that that had only been a year ago. It seemed so much longer. As though it belonged to another lifetime. A lifetime that belonged to different people.

"That worked against Frankenbot, but to kill a true God...I don't think it's enough" Buffy reasoned, "And plus, I need you guys conscious..."

"But we don't have to kill her," Willow went for the glass-half-full angle rather than the glass-smashed-into-bits-by-a-crazy-god take on things, "Just stop her from performing the ritual. I mean there's just the one time she can do it right?"

"Yeah," Spike agreed, getting in the swing of things, "We get her on the ropes, we just gotta keep her occupied till it's too late!"

"Okay," Anya nodded making 'lets have more' motions with her hands, "but I'm still not hearing _enough_ ideas. She's a god, let's think _outside_ the box"

"Why don't you go think outside the bleedin' box?" Spike asked in complete frustration, showing how high tensions were running.

"Yes, Anya" Giles said, agreeing for Spike for once in...well, ever, "Apart from your incredibly uninfectious enthusiasm, have you anything to contribute? Any ideas on how to fight a God? Love to hear 'em..."

"Hey," Xander defended Anya "How about we don't pick on my gi-"

"The Dagon's Sphere!" Anya exclaimed.

"Sorry?" Giles frowned.

"When Buffy first met Glory she found that magical glowy sphere thing that was meant to repel Glory,." Anya explained, "We've got it in the basement- it might drive her back or hurt her and-oh!" Anya ran over to the shelf where Joyce and Giles were stood with Buffy, "Olaf, the Trollgod's Enchanted Hammer. You wanna fight a god...use the weapon of a god"

Buffy walked past her Mom and Giles and over to the shelf, looking at the hammer with keen interest.

"Nah, that thing's too heavy-" Spike protested just as Buffy picked it up with ease, testing the weight in just one of her hands, "yeah...good."

"I like this," Buffy said approvingly, smiling at the weapon before smiling at Anya, "Thanks"

"Here to help," Anya grinned, "Wanna live"

"This is good right?" Joyce asked, looking around at everyone, "This means we have a fighting chance against Glory? And we can save Dawn"

"It's heading that way, yes," Giles agreed, "Anya that's all very- did you think of all that just now?"

"Smart chicks are so hot," Xander commented in awe when Anya nodded and she looked over at him with a pleased grin.

"You couldn't have figured that out in tenth grade?" Willow asked in slight exasperation with a lopsided grin.

"You know me and timing..." He joked with a shrug.

"Well, this is all very well and good," Giles said, "We could give Glory a decent run here, but-"

"But we have no idea where to find her," Buffy finished his thought process.

"Big day!" Tara exclaimed, "It calls out to me...I have to be there...!"

Everyone looked at each other in realization.

* * *

"You know...before...I didn't mean that...that she wasn't your daughter..." Giles said a little while later when he found Joyce stood alone in the the back room. It was the one next door to the basement and was empty except for a few packages that were ready for delivery. There were also several spare items littering the otherwise bare room. Chairs, a table, all things that would more than likely never be used. 

"I know what you meant," She told him quietly, but not turning around to face him, "I know you would never wish any harm to Dawn"

"Of course not-"

"So when you said it as it is...it hurt...because I knew what you were saying was true," She turned around to face him now and he saw she had been crying a little, "And I can't face that. How can it be fair for my baby girl to have to give her own life for the rest of this...crappy world? _How_?"

"It's not," He told her simply and honestly, "It's not. But as you said...it is what it is"

"How do we keep fighting like this?" She asked in desperation, "How can...what's the point of all this if all we seem to get in return is hurt and pain? Buffy's older than her years...I know that...but she shouldn't be. She's twenty years old...she should be at the Bronze right now enjoying the fact it's the end of the academic year and Dawn...Dawn s-should be at a sleepover at Janice's...she should..." She started to cry again but was prevented from doing so by Giles kissing her lightly, just for a few seconds. "I can't...not now..." She protested quietly, but he just kissed her again, this time for a little bit longer. "We have to help-" But then she was cut off by her kissing him instead. The kiss broke again, but for barely a second before she wrapped her arms around his neck and his hands slipped around her back and they were kissing again. The kiss quickly intensified and Joyce instinctively knew where it was heading so she broke the the kiss again, but didn't take her arms from around him. "We can't," She told him as they stood nose-to-nose, "This is...bad time...we can't...not here...not now..." But then, almost involuntarily, she was kissing him again and the two of them were falling back slowly onto the unused, spare table behind them.

* * *

"We found the sphere!" Anya announced loudly as she came out of the basement with Xander, both of them slightly sweaty and tousled. She was never one for discretion but for this one time she really hoped no one had noticed how long they'd been down there and that it had been because of sex (and proposals as well). 

At the same time she and Xander came out of the basement door though, she saw on her right Giles and Joyce come out of the door next to them, looking just as tousled and sweaty and it became obvious to her, particularly when she saw Joyce pulling down her top, that she and Xander weren't the only ones having inappropriately timed sex.

The two couples looked at each other, both knowing what the other had been doing, before setting off away from the guilt-ridden doors.

"Inappropriately timed sex?" Anya asked Joyce casually and bluntly as the two walked off together, Giles and Xander behind them.

Joyce looked at Anya in slight shock and embarrassment for a moment, before deciding what-the-hell.

"Inappropriately timed sex," Joyce confirmed as the two of them came to the counter.

"So, you, uh, having a...uh, tender moment too?" Xander asked Giles as the two of them walked off after the girls. Giles looked at Xander pointedly, as though going to deny the fact completely, but then he sighed in resignation.

"Yes, now let's never discuss it again,"

"Not a problem," Xander assured him, meaning every word, "But listen...when we were looking for that sphere thing...we got an idea" He told them as they reached the counter also.

"Yes?"

"The Buffybot," Xander said in explanation.

"I came in too late into this conversation didn't I?" Joyce asked with a frown.

"No, point of involvement makes no effect on the amount of confusion, believe me," Giles assured her, before returning his attention to Xander, "What do you mean?"

"We could use the Buffybot," Xander told him before going into further explanation.

* * *

"We on schedule?" Buffy asked later on as everyone finished getting ready at the Magic Box, ready for the battle with Glory. 

"Yes, it's time," Giles told her.

"Willow?" Buffy turned to her best friend and Willow moved to Tara gently, speaking into her ear quietly.

"Tara...baby...is there somewhere you should be?"

"They held me down..." Tara protested nonsensically.

"Nobody's holding you," Willow told her, "It's the big day, right? Do you wanna go?"

Hesitantly, Tara looked about her as though worried one of them was going to grab her and stop her if she started moving. Once she was almost sure they wouldn't she nervously started walking past them all to head out of the store. She paused for a moment, suddenly stopping in her tracks, to point at Giles.

"You're a killer..." She murmured, unnerving him slightly, "It's all put down..."

She started moving again, walking out of the store.

"Willow, stay close but don't crowd her," Buffy ordered, "We'll follow in a minute," Willow left, "Everyone knows their jobs. Remember the ritual starts, we all die. And I'll kill anyone who comes near Dawn"

She seemed to view this comment as her final command, before she saw her Mom getting ready to set out with the rest of them, weapon in hand.

"Mom, I don't think you should- maybe you shouldn't g-"

"Buffy- don't," Joyce ordered her, "It's Dawn. End of"

Buffy was unhappy about the fact, but she nodded in understanding.

"Don't worry Slayer," Spike told her, "Just give her an axe and she'll easily start hitting people in the head with it," He grinned slightly and Joyce rolled her eyes.

"Would you let that go already?" She asked as they all started walking out.

"No," Spike told her simply, "That bloody hurt that did..."

"I thought vampires were meant to be super strong," Joyce argued, walking out the door after him.

"They are, but an axe in the head when my back is turned kinda..." Spike's voice trailed off as the door closed quietly and the two were cut off from hearing distance.

"I think we're a bad influence on your Mom," Xander commented, as he grabbed his own choice of weapon, "She's started being all making with the light jokey when facing an apocalypse"

"Makes you proud," Buffy quipped as he, Giles and Anya walked out after the two. Buffy didn't follow on straight away but headed to the basement where the Buffybot was waiting for her.

* * *

As Willow reached Tara's destination she stopped in utter shock as she saw the huge tower looming above her. She was paying so much attention to it that she barely registered the rest of the group walk up behind. That is, until Xander spoke. 

"Shpadoinkle,"

"What is that...?" Anya asked, squinting up at it.

"The portal must open up there..." Giles surmised.

"Which means Dawn's up there..." Joyce continued bravely, taking Giles' hand for support. Buffy remembered when she used to hold Angel's hand before a big fight, just to give her that little boost of confidence that told her she could do this. And then she held Riley's hand. And now...no one. She shook those thoughts aside. She didn't wanna be all self-pitying when fighting a God. Definitely not a good idea.

"Hey check that out," Xander pointed out a wrecking ball not too far away, "I think I can work with that"

"Give it a shot," Buffy encouraged him.

"See you guys in there," He told them before rushing off to the machine. Buffy saw him squeeze Anya's hand tightly before he left and again she felt...not so much self-pitying as nostalgic.

"Will, you're up"

Willow tried to look fiercely determined but her nerves shone through brightly.

"Need anything?" Giles asked.

"Could use some courage..." Willow replied and almost instantly Spike's hand held out a flask of the Dutch variety to her. She looked at him with a grateful smile, "The real kind...but thanks"

Spike shrugged, unoffended, but took a swig of the drink himself.

Willow began murmuring an incantation that the others could barely hear, before she walked off in the direction Tara had headed.

"So, you guys know what you have to do?" Buffy asked.

"Fight through a crowd o' crazies and hobbits?" Spike asked, "I think we get the gist love,"

Buffy just gave him a look.

* * *

The fight between the crazies, the minions and the scoobies was getting rather complicated. And confusing. So much, in fact, that Spike kept accidentally hitting the humans and was taken out of the fight each time momentarily as he clutched his head in pain due to his chip activating. 

Other than that though, things were going pretty darn well. Sure the slayerettes hadn't got past the minions to the tower, but then again neither had anyone else.

As Giles fought, using the sword defensively against the crazies and saving all the killing thrusts for the hobbits with leprosy, he spared a glance in Joyce's direction and felt quite proud in a I-taught-her-everything-she-knows kinda way when he saw how well she was in fact doing.

"BUFFY!!! I'M UP HERE!!!!" Dawn's scream cut through them all and while everyone else kept fighting, Joyce, like Buffy who was presently fighting Glory, stopped fighting to look up in the direction of Dawn's voice.

A crazy took this moment to knock her over the head with a bat and she fell to the floor with the impact. Giles immediately fought through the crowd with ease to reach her.

"Dawn," She said, as he helped her back up, "She's already up there."

He nodded in understanding before resuming fighting, as did Joyce, but this time it was more fierce as determination to get to Dawn kicked in.

Fighting back-to-back the two made quite the team. If the situation hadn't been so dire Joyce might have enjoyed, even taken amusement, in that fact.

* * *

A little while later though and they were still fighting though. For a bunch of crazy people they could sure hold their own. 

"Has anyone noticed that we're moving backwards?" Anya asked as they all crouched behind a pile of rubble while the minions and crazies randomly threw objects at them.

Spike, at Anya's question, looked over the rubble to have a look...and was hit in the head with a brick.

"It had crossed my mind..." He agreed.

"But what about Dawn?" Joyce asked, "And the ritual? We need to get up there"

"Well if Buffy can keep Glory down long enough it won't matter," Giles reasoned, "There's only a few minutes left to start the ritual"

"Just a few minutes..." Joyce repeated in a tone that revealed she was thinking just the same as everyone else- that they'd as good as won. No ritual equals no end of the world and a safe Dawn.

"How are we doing?" Xander asked, crawling over to the group commando-style.

"So far, it's a tie," Anya informed him.

"We haven't got up to Dawn, but neither has anyone else," Giles explained, barely noticing that he and Joyce had recently taken to holding each other's hand permanently now.

"Someone's up there..."Spike told them all as he squinted up at the platform.

"What?" Joyce asked, her tone sharp as she looked up also. And sure enough, she could see Dawn there...but a man was up there too. "Who is it?"

"I don't know," Spike replied, "But I'm gonna bet it ain't Father Christmas..."

"Right, we gotta charge them or something," Xander suggested.

"We tried that," Anya told him.

"Loud and clear," Spike said and everyone frowned at him.

"Who? What?" Giles asked in confusion.

Spike didn't reply, but carried on talking, seemingly to himself.

"Yeah, can't see who...Yeah, but-"

And then suddenly he jumped up and ran at the crowd which suddenly parted leaving a clear path for Spike to run up to the top of the tower.

"Willow?" Joyce asked, looking around, but she couldn't see the witch anywhere. But then, neither she or the others had any time to think further on that as the crazies ran at them wielding weapons madly and the fight was on again.

"Haven't these guys ever heard of a time-out?" Xander asked in exasperation as he got up.

"Apparently not," Anya replied, before letting out what could only be described as a battle cry as she charged at the minions and co.

"Rupert?" Joyce called out as she knocked aside one of the crazy people into two of the minions- the three of them went down like bowling pins and that dealt with she started looking around for Giles again. He was no where to be found, "Rupert?!"

Unable to escape from the confusing and complicated fight that was occurring she couldn't go searching for him to check if he was okay, nor could she ask the others if they had seen him. So she just kept on fighting, hoping to God he was going to return soon.

She kept going and she was doing really well, as well as the others at least, when suddenly one of the minions, a particularly smug-looking one, got the upper hand as he wielded a machete and aimed to use it to, at a guess, slice through her neck as he backed her into a corner.

Then it was the minion's head that came off, as a sword sliced neatly across his neck, the head literally rolling away as the body collapsed to the floor. It was an amazing feat that she didn't throw up at the sight as it was, for lack of a better description, pretty gruesome. She looked at where the minion had been stood only a minute ago to see Giles stood there. A man with great timing- that's what she liked.

"Oh you're okay!" She exclaimed, hugging him. She meant it to be a quick, brief hug as circumstance kept them from anything else, but then the world began to shake violently and they held onto each other for balance.

Looking up they saw a ball of energy start to grow in the middle of the air, right at the top of the tower. The ritual had begun, which meant Dawn's blood had already been spilt.

"Oh no..." Joyce breathed, knowing exactly what that meant as lightning bolts started striking down around them, destroying the earth. The words were inside of her, she could hear Giles saying it, his voice coming back to her- _The blood flows- the gates will open, the gates will close when it flows no more. When Dawn is dead. _Then, something inside of her clicked, "Blood..."

"What?" Giles asked, as he moved them away from part of the tower falling down next to them, but Joyce wasn't paying attention. Several memories ran through her head.

Spike in the Magic Box just hours ago, "_It's always got to be blood..."_

Herself at home, months ago, in one of her pre-spell ramblings, _"She's my daughter, We share the same blood...blood's important you see"_

Then Buffy in the store also, "_She's more than my sister...Mom's daughter...the monks made her out of me..."_

All of these thoughts came together and Joyce realized, it didn't have to be Dawn's blood that closed the portal, but Summers' blood. Their blood was all the same. She was Dawn's Mother- as it was Buffy's job to protect the world, it was Joyce's job to protect Dawn and Buffy.

Buffy. Joyce realized then, knowing without knowing how she knew, that Buffy would be thinking the same thing as her. Realizing it wasn't Dawn who needed to be sacrificed. She pulled out of Giles' grasp and started to run for the stairs that led to the the top of the tower. Giles was hot on her heels though and as she reached the first break in the stairs he grabbed her.

"Where are you going?" He asked desperately, trying to pull her back. She struggled to get out of his grip, and although she was holding back too much for him to take her back down the stairs, he still wasn't letting go anytime soon.

"I have to go," She told him, "You said that when the blood stops the gates close- but it doesn't have to be Dawn's blood!"

And then he understood what she knew as he figured it out also.

"Joyce...you can't-"

"Yes, I can," She insisted, tearful "I'm sorry, but I have to- I can't let either of them die. I _can't_"

She went to run off, further up the stairs, heading to the very top when the crackling ball of blue energy suddenly grew even brighter causing everything to shake even more violently than before as a dragon creature flew down past them all and Giles and Joyce lost their balance and fell down.

Looking up they saw something diving into the blue energy. Joyce knew then, without looking at who it was. Who had sacrificed themselves when it should have been her instead. She hadn't been quick enough. She hadn't made it on time. And yet the tears didn't yet fall. It was as though at this moment it hadn't hit her. While she saw no conclusion, no ending, it hadn't yet happened. So she crouched there, in shock, holding onto Giles as the world seemed to fall apart.

_"Dawn, I love you, I will _**always**_ love you, but this is the work that I have to do"_

Suddenly, all the creatures that had been previously terrorizing the world, disappeared, taken back to their own dimension as the portal closed. And the sun actually rose as calm fell, casting rosy morning light on the destruction and chaos that had been left behind. Giles and Joyce stood up slowly as everything became steady again.

_"Tell Giles...tell Giles I figured it out. And, and I'm okay"_

They stepped down the steps, into the open space around the tower, seeing the rest of the group walk forward just as slowly to something they couldn't yet see. Xander was carrying Anya in his arms.

_"And tell Mom I know she figured it out too. But this isn't her fight...it's mine and I kept my promise. I didn't get killed- this was my choice. She has to remember that."_

And then she saw it, at the same time as Giles. The lifeless body lay there...the lifeless body that had once been Buffy. She was silent for a moment, her eyes wide in shock...how could it have happened? It wasn't supposed to happen this way. Children bury their parents, not the other way round. How could Buffy be gone? It wasn't possible. How could Buffy be dead? How could she be looking at that? How?

_"And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other"_

Then it seemed to sink in. Buffy was dead. Buffy. Was Dead. It hurt too much to contemplate. She was just twenty years old. She was the little baby she'd held in her arms, the little girl who used to play dress up with her cousin Celia, the twelve year old who wanted so desperately to dress up as red riding hood, the teenager at Hemery High who'd been on the cheerleading team and had insisted on showing her Mom and Dad her newest cheerleading moves, and the teenager in Sunnydale who had tried to so hard to do well in school, to focus on her studies while still slaying, the teenager who she always used to banter with and despite the weary expression she had always given her, Joyce had loved every minute. _"Everyday woman?" Buffy had asked only a few years ago, "Why didn't you go straight to Muumuus R us?" She had then worn that weary look before replying "Do now, make fun of your Mother later"_

And now that same little girl, lay there, eyes closed. Not blinking, not moving, not breathing. Dead.

_"You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world is to live in it"_

Hysteria took over and Joyce started crying so loudly, everyone was sure it could be heard in L.A. There was silence everywhere else, so her cries and yells of sadness were the only thing that could be heard anywhere. She went to run over to Buffy, to shake her awake perhaps- a last act of desperation, but Giles knowingly held her back, putting his arms tightly around her. She kicked and struggled, trying to get to Buffy, but he held her back as she cried more and more hysterically. Not being able to accept the fact that her daughter was dead.

_"Be brave. Live. For me"_

**The sky is the color of white, hot iron. The sun is long overdue. It's been a hard year**


	28. Top of the World

Abryxis- Thanks for review and I thought I felt my ears burning- calling me dirty names...pfft. hehe. And yeah, School Hard is one of my favorite Joyce eps too. I think in the script it describes both Buffy and Joyce stood there with the axe as 'Thelma and Louise on crack' haha.

g120- Seems sadder with Joyce huh? I'll take that as a compliment on my writing behalf, hehe. And no, twasn't last episode of season- lucky you haha- but this one unfortunately is...but neverfear, for season 6 will soon be here. (Oh yeah...I so missed by calling as a poet) Thanks for review. Oh and btw, your internet gods worked- I got my internet back yesterday- woo and hoo!

Rabidreject- Buffy dead...I know. It was a coin toss between Joyce and Buffy...decided on Buffy coz, well, she's easier to bring back. haha. Thanks for review.

zigpal- Thanks for review and yeah, I'm glad you liked the joyce-willing-to-sacrifice-herself thing. It just seemed...right. And the way you said 'S6 goes with Joyce walking around' made me laugh because I just had like an image of Joyce wandering around Sunnydale aimlessly.

* * *

_I wish I was stronger_

Joyce didn't know what time of the morning it was. But it was still dark outside so she knew it was early. She was sat on the sofa, alone. Everyone else in the house was in bed. Sleeping, able to sleep. She wasn't though. Not at all.

Tomorrow, or was it technically today, was Buffy's...god, she couldn't even think it. But she had to, she had to face facts. The cold, awful, dreadful, terrible facts. Buffy's Funeral. Those two words didn't seem to go, they didn't look right together.

It wasn't even a real funeral. They couldn't tell anyone about it. No one outside their group but the priest was to know. Not even Hank. Hank couldn't know about the death of his own daughter...yet again, for the greater good. Buffy had died for the greater good and now she couldn't even have a proper funeral deserving of her because of it. All because no one could know that Sunnydale was without a Slayer. It seemed as though Buffy's duty didn't even cease beyond the grave.

Joyce returned her attention to the images flickering on the TV screen quietly. It was the one of many home videos she had been playing ever since she got up and set up vigil on the sofa.

_"What've you got there Buffy?" TV Hank off camera as little five year old Buffy opened her presents next to the Christmas tree. _

_"Power Girl!" Buffy exclaimed holding up a themed Barbie doll to the camera before showing it to TV Joyce next to her. "Mommy- look!"_

_"Oh that's lovely sweetie," Joyce smiled, "And who got you that?"_

_Buffy peered around comically for the tag, finally finding it and grabbing it with young, chubby hands._

_"F-from...Aaant..L..." Buffy seemed to struggle with the name for a moment, before smiling proudly, "From Aunt Lolly"_

"Mom?" Joyce heard a familiar voice calling her from the doorway.

"Buffy?" But of course it wasn't and Joyce sighed, though she didn't know why, "Dawn."

"Why are you up?" She asked, walking over to her Mom.

"Couldn't sleep," Joyce forced herself to smile, at least slightly.

"What are you watching?" Dawn asked, reaching the sofa.

"Oh, uh," Joyce hurriedly looked round for the remote. She didn't want Dawn to know what she was watching as she knew it would just upset her even more.

"Home videos?" Too late.

"Yeah...just found them, thought I'd-"

"Can I watch them with you?" Dawn asked suddenly before silence fell on the two of them. The only sound in the room being the cheery voices on the Christmas video.

"Sure, honey," Joyce nodded, patting the seat next to her for Dawn to join her. Dawn sat on the sofa, curling up against her Mom, closing her eyes peacefully for a moment as Joyce put an arm around her. The two of them sat there, watching the home video.

Joyce took her attention away from the screen a moment to look down at Dawn beside her and decided right there and then, more than ever, that she was going to protect her more than she had ever done. She couldn't save Buffy and for that she was going to forever feel guilty, but she wasn't ever going to lose Dawn. Ever.

* * *

_I wish it had been easier instead of any longer_

"Can I get you anything?" Willow asked Dawn in the kitchen the next morning. It was early morning and Willow and Tara had just arrived at Revello Drive ten minutes ago. Anya and Xander had yet to turn up though and while Giles was downstairs milling about aimlessly, Joyce was still upstairs. So Willow and Tara were seeing to Dawn who was sat at the kitchen island in a black dress, looking lost and forlorn as she just gazed down at the fruit bowl in front of her, not really seeing it.

"No thanks," She eventually said.

"You're sure?" Tara checked, "We could get you some juice or-"

"I'm fine." Dawn insisted firmly, her gaze never leaving the fruit bowl.

"Hey," Tara and Willow looked over to see Xander walking into the kitchen with Anya, "How...how...is everyone holding up?"

No one replied.

"Xander cried a lot this morning," Anya informed them all, "It was weird."

"It's a thing that we do," Willow told her, slightly sardonically.

"I cried too," Anya added, "That was even weirder"

"How are you?" Willow asked Xander and ignoring Anya (figuring this to be the saner and safer option).

"Not even sure I'm here actually," Xander admitted, "I mean she always said how Slayers...aren't usually around long, but..."

"You never really believed her?" Willow asked and he shook his head, "Me neither"

"I just saw Giles in the living room," Xander told her, "He's definitely not looking so good. But...I didn't see Joyce, how is she?"

"We haven't seen her since we've been here either," Tara told him, "I think she's still getting ready"

"Right. Of course. Sure," Xander nodded and silence fell on the group again. All that could be heard was the sound Anya's hand moving slightly on the counter. The small sound seemed amplified to an unbearable level.

Silence.

"So, how's the Buffybot comin'?" Xander asked Willow, wanting to talk about anything else.

"Well, I'm sorting the wiring out," Willow told him, "It's nearly sorted...then I just need to get the head back on. That's kinda the big task"

"You think it'll work though?" He asked, "I mean will it fool all the vamps? Make em think-"

"STOP IT!" Dawn suddenly exclaimed, cutting them all off as she stood up abruptly.

"Dawnie-" Tara began but Dawn talked over her.

"How can you talk this way? This is Buffy's Funeral for _God's sakes_ and you're just here talking about a robot! How can you?" Dawn looked disgusted with them, "Can't you just for one minute...god, we're burying my _sister_ today. I can't believe you would..." Trailing off, unable to say anything else, Dawn ran out of the kitchen door onto the back porch.

"I'll go see if she's okay," Tara told them all quietly, before following Dawn, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Joyce was sat in front of her vanity mirror. She held her black top in her hand and only wore her camisole with her skirt. Her black shoes lay in a corner, still in their box, unused, unworn. Her make-up was also unopened on the dresser and she hadn't yet picked her hairbrush up once. 

"Joyce?" Giles pushed open their bedroom door. "We, uh, i-it's time. We really do have t-to go..." He stopped as he looked at her, "You're, ah, y-you're not dressed"

"No," She said simply, not looking away from the mirror.

"No?"

"No, because if I get dressed than that means I have to go...and if I go then Buffy really is gone and I won't...I _can't_ face that"

"It's hard, I know, but-"

"No, you don't know" She told him, standing up from her seat to look at him, "You can't possibly know. I gave birth to her. I saw her grow up. I saw her go from this little angelic thing to this beautiful young woman and now...and now she's gone and she shouldn't be."

Giles didn't know what to say.

"You shouldn't have held me back," She told him, pursing her lips to keep herself from crying again.

"What?"

"If you hadn't held me back I could have reached them both on time. Then I could have gone instead. That's how it should have been. That's how it always plays out. Daughter buries the Mother, not the other way round. You should have let me go"

"P-perhaps," Giles said, really not feeling strength behind his words, "But-"

"But you didn't," Her voice was steady and lifeless, "What kind of 'higher power' gives a young girl suchstrength' for her to just die that that? So young?" She shook her head, walking away from him momentarily before turning back to look at him, "It isn't right and it isn't fair," Her voice was low and angry, "Not after everything she's...she had been through"

Overcome, she suddenly lost control of her tightly 'controlled' emotions and she burst into tears. He held her, but she didn't stop crying.

* * *

_I wish I could have stood where you would have been proud. That won't happen now. _

"We, we ready to go?" Xander asked, barely keeping his voice from breaking as Joyce and Giles came down the stairs. Dawn was waiting with him and the others and when her eyes fell on her, Joyce thought she never looked more mature, more grown-up.

"We're ready," She told him, but sounded anything but.

"Right," Xander nodded, "I'll drive." He told them, but took Joyce's car keys as the jeep was the only vehicle that had any hope of fitting them all in. It seemed absurd to be going to a funeral in a jeep, no funeral car. Nothing. The coffin wasn't even getting a procession. All because they didn't want anyone, dead or alive, in Sunnydale to know Buffy was gone. Sometimes the Greater Good sucked. Actually, a lot of the time it sucked, but never more so than today.

Silently they filed out, walking out the front door, neither knowing what to say to the other. Xander gave Dawn a brief supportive smile which she returned. She didn't cry. She just walked out after her Mom bravely. She was being brave a lot lately. Only crying when she was alone, not forcing her feelings onto other people. She felt it was the right, selfless thing to do. It's what Buffy would have done.

Xander took Anya's hand, sharing a melancholy smile with her, before the two of them walked out last, after the rest, closing the door behind them.

* * *

_There's a whole lot of singing that's never gonna be heard. Disappearing everyday without so much as a word somehow. Think I broke the wings off that little songbird. She's never gonna fly to the top of the world right now. _

The service wasn't really something Joyce paid attention to. It was meager and traditional- everything Buffy wasn't. She remembered talking to Buffy about funerals one time, after the death of her uncle. It had been a morbid conversation and Buffy had only been fifteen at the time, but they had fell into it. They'd discussed how depressing funerals naturally were and Buffy had claimed that when she died she wanted one those jazz funerals that dance in bright colors in the streets playing jazz music- celebrating life instead of mourning death. Joyce wished she could have fulfilled that one request of Buffy's. But jazz bands in the street didn't keep things quiet.

She and Giles leaned into one another for support, trying to find comfort in one another but unable to in such tragic and dreadful circumstances.

When the service concluded the entire group were crying whether quietly, loudly, openly, privately, they were all crying. The priest, in his duty, told them he was sorry for their loss but they barely heard him.

Joyce looked at the gravestone. Kept looking. Although it was the strongest reminder that her daughter was cold, lifeless and dead buried underneath the earth, it was the only thing she liked about the entire thing. The service wasn't Buffy, but the gravestone was. It had the usual sweet words BELOVED DAUGHTER AND SISTER. DEVOTED FRIEND. It even had the dates that revealed how young she had been when she was stolen from the world for saving it. 1981-2001. But the part that was so very Buffy- the lighthearted, yet honest part at the bottom. SHE SAVED THE WORLD. A LOT. It sounded as though Buffy were saying it. Saying it in one of her witty comebacks and quips she regularly used to spout out no matter what evil she faced. That was Buffy and so that was the part, the only part, Joyce liked.

"Joyce..." Giles said a little while later as dusk began to settle, "We can't stay here any longer we have to go"

"I don't want to leave her...I don't want to leave her alone," Joyce replied, still looking at the gravestone.

"I know," Giles agreed quietly, understanding exactly what Joyce meant, "But it's getting dark...we have to go..."

She looked down at the earth and then the gravestone one last time before nodding silently and letting Giles lead her away. She hated leaving- she felt as if she were abandoning her there. Leaving her behind. But there was nothing else left to do.

* * *

_I don't have to answer any of these questions. Don't have no God to teach me no lessons. I come home in the evening, sit in my chair. One night they called me for supper but I never got up. I stayed right there in my chair._

It was a couple of days after the funeral and it still hadn't sunk in. They were all still carrying that little bit of denial around them, the part that said- no Buffy's not dead...she's just gone away for a while, on holiday. She'll back soon. Till then, we'll cope.

Giles had heard the others comment on the fact he hadn't cried- the emotional marathon man strikes again apparently. But he had cried, god how he had cried. Never in front of the others though. Never. He was never one to cry in front of an audience- the only person to have seen him cry was Joyce. Usually at the same time she herself was crying.

It was the middle of the night and she was crying out in her sleep again. She hadn't had a restful sleep since Buffy had...died.

She'd cry and moan fitfully before she would wake up abruptly. It was the same every night.

Ever since Buffy had passed away Joyce had been going over the same thoughts in her mind before she fell asleep. She couldn't help it. They preyed on her, hanging there, waiting for her to acknowledge them. Buffy had told her once that she had died already, before Joyce knew she was Slayer. That had hurt so much, the thought that her daughter could have died without her knowing why or how. What would have been the explanation given if they had brought her body home? Sorry, she got hit by a truck? Or would they have tried to explain the truth? In a way, the truth was harder, the reality was fiercer and this truth, this reality right now was more pain than she could bear. And this came through in the recurring nightmare she was having. Always the same. A graveyard. A fairground. A graveyard. Then she'd walk around the fairground and behind the Ferris Wheel there she would find mangled, beaten, corpse of Buffy, staring up at her with unseeing eyes. And it was this sight that always caused her to spring awake in a cold sweat.

"Joyce!" Giles called as she awoke, panicking, yet again. He grabbed her arms, "Joyce, Joyce- it's okay. It's just a nightmare"

"No, no it's not," She shook her head, crying, "It's not- we did leave her there. And...oh God, she's gone Rupert, she's really gone."

And yet again, he held her as she sobbed.

* * *

The next night Joyce was sat on the sofa, Giles in the chair, Dawn upstairs choosing to be alone, when Xander, Anya, Willow and Tara arrived...with the Buffybot. 

When Joyce saw it walk in, a bright cheery smile on it's face, she wanted to throw up. It was another nail in the denial coffin. This was keeping Buffy alive. It looked so real. It wore Buffy's clothes, Buffy's smile and held Buffy's stake.

"Well...she's all finished," Willow announced feebly and the Buffybot smiled at everyone.

"Hello!" She waved, looking at them all with innocent interest, "Are we ready to patrol?"

"Y-yes," Giles nodded, obviously as thrown back by this sight as Joyce. "Yes, I'll just...my coat, I, uh-"

"You're going on patrol?" Joyce asked, "All of you?"

"Yeah," Xander admitted, "We can't really let the Buffybot out on her own. She could mess up"

"But I thought that was the whole point of fixing her," Joyce countered, standing up to face the group, "Buffy...bot patrols and you're all safe _not_ patrolling."

"Well, the bot will help," Willow told her, "But we still need to be out there"

Joyce didn't reply to Willow but instead turned to look at Giles.

"Rupert, you can't seriously be considering going out on patrol. It's too dangerous," She gestured at the group, "They could get hurt, you can't possibly let them-"

"We have to keep Sunnydale safe, Joyce," He told her kindly, but she was having none of it.

"Why? Why do we?" She looked at the group, "Who says any of you have to? Really?"

No one replied.

"People get hurt when they do _this," _Joyce continued, "You can't continue with this. Rupert, you can't really expect I'd let any of you...after what happened-"

"Joyce, if we don't- then everyone in Sunnydale is in danger," Giles told her and she seemed to choose not to reply as she stormed past them all in the direction of the stairs. Before she started to walk up them she turned back to the group for a final word.

"Fine, go, go if you think you have to. But you don't. Buffy's dead," The words were out there and they came out harsher than Joyce intended, but she forced herself to continue, "And this '_patrolling'_ should die with it"

And she stormed up the stairs away from them all, leaving her words and their implications hanging in the air between the group.

"Time to slay," Buffybot looked at them all as though asking 'so why aren't we going...?'

* * *

_Cause everyone is singing, we just want to be heard. Disappearing everyday without so much as a word somehow. Wanna grab a hold of that little songbird and take her for a ride to the top of the world._

It was hours later when they all returned and they found Joyce sat in the dining room, Dawn presumably still upstairs in her room. She looked up when they came in and saw the several cut on Giles' forehead, the bruise on Willow's wrist and the ripped shirt that Xander was wearing. Only the Buffybot and Anya seemed okay.

Xander really thought they were in for an I-told-you-so lecture but instead, Joyce looked at them all silently, before walking off into the kitchen.

Giles looked at the others briefly before immediately following.

"Joyce, are-"

"Am I okay?" Joyce cut him off, spinning around to face him across the kitchen, "What a question. How can I be okay? I mean I guess another funeral wouldn't be too much of a hassle anymore. Practically an ol' hound dog at it now."

"Pardon?" Giles asked with a frown and as he paid attention to Joyce he didn't realize the rest of the group had followed and were hovering in the kitchen doorway watching them.

"You all come back here looking like..." Joyce stopped bit sentence, sighing in grieved frustration, "We bury Buffy just _two_ days ago and you take her friends out tonight to get them killed as well!"

"I didn't, we, uh-" Giles struggled to defend himself.

"What the hell is _wrong_ with you? Do you want them all to get hurt? Keep them patrolling till they're killed off one by one? It is bad enough that living in Sunnydale is dangerous enough, but going out at night like this, patrolling with them...you are making it way too easy for them to get hurt- you are letting them walk right into it!"

She looked past Giles, to see the group there watching them like wide-eyed children. And then she saw the Buffybot stood behind them looking cluelessly interested at what was going on. The sight of 'Buffy' made it so much worse. She abruptly turned away from the sight, nearly walking into the fridge which she saw bore, along with several other photos, a snapshot from a couple of years ago of herself and Buffy.

"I just can't handle this anymore. I just want it to go away," She said in a quieter voice, before turning to look at them all, "I don't want to lose any of you. I _can't _lose any of you." She slid down into one of the stools at the island, dropping her head into her hands, "I can't carry on like this anymore. I can't bear it"

She felt something in her hands and she looked to see that unconsciously she had taken the photo off the fridge and was holding it tightly in her left hand. Buffy's seventeen year old face smiling back at her.

_But she's never gonna fly to the top of the world. _

_Top of the world._


End file.
